An Italian Eurofighter shot down a foreign drone in Latvian airspace. The intervention took place as part of the NATO air defense mission in the Baltic States and was confirmed by both the Latvian authorities and the Atlantic Alliance.
“We are grateful to our Italian allies for their contribution to the NATO air defense mission in the Baltics and for maintaining the integrity of allied airspace,” Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze wrote on X, explaining that the unmanned aircraft was shot down over eastern Latvia.
The take-off of the Eurofighters
NATO reported that in the morning the Italian Eurofighters stationed in Lithuania and the Turkish F-16s from Estonia took off urgently. One of the Italian fighters then intercepted and shot down the drone in Latvian airspace.
The episode comes after other violations recorded in the area. In fact, the previous day Romanian F-16s and Spanish F-18s had also taken off following the entry of some drones into Romanian airspace, near the border with Ukraine.
«Day after day, NATO is ready and able to react to any potential threat, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to safeguard our territory and protect our population», underlined the Alliance spokeswoman.