Germany to send Eurofighter jets to Latvia during parliamentary elections

Germany's Ministry of Defence has announced that, at Latvia's request, the German air force will help protect Latvian airspace during the country's upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for October 3. The news was reported by the Ukrainian outlet "European Pravda", citing information from the German defence ministry.

According to the ministry's statement, airspace over the Baltic states has been repeatedly violated by unmanned aerial vehicles in recent weeks and months. Against this backdrop, the Latvian government asked its allies for assistance in securing its airspace so that the elections could proceed safely.

Small contingent of fighter jets

German officials stressed that the country "reliably supports its allies, who are particularly vulnerable on the eastern flank". To that end, Germany is deploying a small contingent of Eurofighter combat aircraft to Latvia from late September through early October.

Earlier drone incident

The report recalls that on the night of August 14, an air alert was declared over eastern Latvia after a drone breached the country's border; it was later reported that the drone had been shot down by a fighter jet. Latvia's National Armed Forces had initially planned to neutralize the drone that same evening, but it emerged on Saturday, August 15, that the operation was actually carried out later than first announced.