Baltic Fighter Squeeze

摘要

European budget cuts are making it tougher to provide air sovereignty assets to NATO members without their own air arms, according to Maj. Gen. Mark O. Schissler, US Air Forces in Europe's director of plans, programs, and analyses. NATO fighters have provided air sovereignty to Baltic member states Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania since their accession to the Alliance in 2004. However, defense cuts are making it harder to sustain that help, Schissler said in a January interview. "Having good security" in the form of air sovereignty is one way NATO prevents conflicts, Schissler said. However, with limited defense resources, Baltic states often feel "threatened by both the proximity and the size of the Russian force," he noted. Having a NATO force "capable of providing defensive security" both reassures them and stabilizes NATO's relationship with Russia.