Athens declines NATO Baltic mission

Greece has declined a request from the Baltic nations - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - to participate in air patrols over their airspace, citing its current obligations in the Balkans.

The Baltic countries, which do not have fighters of their own, had asked Greece to deploy F-16 jets to help safeguard their skies as part of a NATO air-policing mission.

Tensions with Russia have made air defense a priority in the region, leading to routine interceptions of Russian aircraft near Baltic borders.

However, Greece's Hellenic Air Force (HAF) is already deeply committed to patrolling the airspace of Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia, and it is set to expand those duties to include Bulgaria in 2025. 

Greek officials said the nation's current air force workload makes it impossible to take on additional missions at this time.

The request from the...