Two German Eurofighter fighters have intercepted and escorted this Sunday a Russian plane Ilushyn IL-20M, which is usually used in surveillance and recognition or espionage work, on the Baltic Sea, as reported The German German delegation this afternoon.
Apparently, the Atlantic Alliance requested the intervention of the German Air Force and its rapid response unit to investigate an unknown and unidentified aircraft that had not registered a flight plan or contacted by radio since its entry into the international airspace.
The two German fighters, which departed from the Rostock-Laage air base, located in the northeast of the Central European country, next to the North Sea coast, identified the aircraft as a Russian spy plane type IL-20M. After that, Swedish military planes escorted the Russian aircraft.
This Sunday's incident occurs after NATO has reinforced the surveillance of the this European flank in the face of the increase in Russian aerial incursions and the eve of the Security Council meeting that will deal with the violation of Estonia's airspace by Russia.
Estonia requested an emergency meeting for the first time in its 34 years of belonging to the United Nations that was formally presented by the five European countries of the Council: United Kingdom, France, Slovenia, Greece and Denmark. The presidency of the Security Council, which corresponds to South Korea, confirmed that the meeting will be tomorrow at 10.00 local time in New York (14.00 GMT).
Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna accused Russia of climbing regional and global tensions on Sunday after the Russian violation of his airspace and claimed an international response in a statement.
The principle of the United Nations Charter, said the minister, “stipulates the abstention of the threat of the use of force,” said Tsahkna, who reproached his behavior to Russia, a member of the UN Security Council.
“Russia is undermining principles that are essential for the safety of all UN members” and their behavior “is not consistent with their obligations as a permanent member of the Security Council,” he added.