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NATO Secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer assured Lithuanian foreign minister Antanas Valionis on Sept. 17 Thursday that there would be no interruption in NATO air-police mission for the Baltic states.
"The NATO Secretary General assured that Baltic air space protection and control would be ensured after October 1, without a pause," the Baltic News Service quoted Valionis as saying after his telephone conversation with de Hoop Scheffer.
Baltic air-space has been patrolled by NATO forces since March, when Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia joined the alliance. NATO members have been taking turns to send their fighters to patrol Baltic air space from Zokniai air-base, situated in North Lithuania.
Denmark took over the mission from Belgium in July and was due to be replaced Oct. 1.
However, the British, who were supposed to take over the mission, refused to send their fighters, saying the Zokniai runaway was too short for the planes, according to BNS.
In his conversation with Valionis, the NATO chief did not say who will take over the mission.
However, Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen Monday told Lithuanian president Valdas Adamkus that his country might extend air patrols over Baltic airspace, if needed.
General Harald Kujat, chairman of NATO’s military committee, who visited Vilnius this week said NATO was looking for a "long-term solution" and offered advice to political leaders on a permanent solution without elaborating.
"The NATO Secretary General assured that Baltic air space protection and control would be ensured after October 1, without a pause," the Baltic News Service quoted Valionis as saying after his telephone conversation with de Hoop Scheffer.
Baltic air-space has been patrolled by NATO forces since March, when Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia joined the alliance. NATO members have been taking turns to send their fighters to patrol Baltic air space from Zokniai air-base, situated in North Lithuania.
Denmark took over the mission from Belgium in July and was due to be replaced Oct. 1.
However, the British, who were supposed to take over the mission, refused to send their fighters, saying the Zokniai runaway was too short for the planes, according to BNS.
In his conversation with Valionis, the NATO chief did not say who will take over the mission.
However, Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen Monday told Lithuanian president Valdas Adamkus that his country might extend air patrols over Baltic airspace, if needed.
General Harald Kujat, chairman of NATO’s military committee, who visited Vilnius this week said NATO was looking for a "long-term solution" and offered advice to political leaders on a permanent solution without elaborating.