The government has decided to send a group of F-16 fighters to patrol the airspace over the Baltic nations Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The Baltic countries reportedly feel threatened by Russia due to the crisis in Ukraine, and the government will meet with the foreign policy committee, Udenrigspolitisk Nævn, today in a bid to have the fighters airborne in May.

”Some of the Baltic nations are a little concerned about their large neighbour, so they have asked their NATO partner if they can help provide a little more security and Denmark has agreed to this,” Johannes Riber Nordby, a military analyst with the defence academy Forsvarsakademiet, told TV2 News.

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No Cold War II
According to Nordby, the mission will mostly involve the patrolling of the Baltic airspace in case any unexpected aircraft arrive. The three nations don’t have their own air force and require assistance from their NATO allies.

The mission may seem like an escalation of sorts considering the current state of affairs between Europe and Russia, but Nordby doesn’t see it that way.

“I don’t think the Russians have territorial ambitions in the Baltic nations at all, so I don’t thing that it will end in a ‘warm war’,” Nordby said.

The Danish F-16 fighter group will consist of six planes, four of which will be active and two that will remain grounded in reserve.