Estonia is pressing for clearer measures and stronger oversight to keep Ukrainian drones away from Baltic airspace after several recent incursions. Officials say Kyiv may send experts to the region to improve air safety, but details of any plan remain undisclosed.
Estonia expects Ukraine to tighten control over drone usage following several incidents of airspace violations over the Baltic states. According to media reports, Ukraine is considering sending its experts to the Baltic states to raise the level of air security, but the plan’s contents have not been disclosed yet.
The content of the initiative needs to be clarified, Kyiv assures. For the Ukrainian side, the simplest way to keep drones away from our territory is to strengthen control over its own activities, said Estonia’s Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur.
“Obviously, all this requires clarification and explanation. What exactly does this mean? We are currently addressing this very promptly by obtaining clarifications. For the Ukrainian side, the simplest way to keep its drones away from our territory is more effective control over its own activities”
– Hanno Pevkur
Context and positions of regional partners
The Estonian government emphasizes that Ukraine has the right to defend itself and strike Russian targets, but Margus Tsahkna expresses concern about the risk of serious incidents and stresses the need to reduce these risks. Direct efforts in this direction have already been discussed with the Ukrainian side.
They further emphasize that Ukrainian drones fly near the border not by accident, and measures to reduce the likelihood of incidents are being discussed at the bilateral level. The Baltic states also urge strengthening air defense and sharing operational information on flight paths.
“When it comes to specific incidents and flight trajectories, that’s for Ukraine to decide whether to inform us about them or not. Overall, this is operational information”
– Andris Spruds
In recent months, several drones, likely launched during attacks on Russian facilities in the Baltic Sea region, crossed the airspace of Estonia, Latvia, and Finland. On May 8, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga stated that Ukraine “is considering” sending Ukrainian experts to the region after Latvia’s border violation and the strike on at least one drone at a fuel depot. According to him, this “will help strengthen the safety of the airspace of our friends from any type of incident”.
“is considering” the possibility of sending Ukrainian experts to the region after Latvia’s border violation and the strike on at least one drone at a fuel depot
– Andriy Sibiga
According to the Ukrainian foreign minister, such a step should contribute to enhancing the safety of our neighbors’ airspace from various incidents. It is also noted that the respective agencies of the countries are closely cooperating to minimize the risks of repeating such events in the future.
In summary, regional cooperation among Estonia, other Baltic states, and Ukraine continues to seek new forms of collaboration to prevent drone incidents and strengthen air safety in the region.