VILNIUS. March 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Lithuanian Defense Minister Linas Linkevicius does not think the flights of Russian reconnaissance aircraft along the borders of Baltic states posed any threat to his country.
"Lithuania had been notified about the flights in due time," he told Interfax Monday commenting on the flights of Russian reconnaissance aircraft near the Lithuanian border and flights of NATO E-3 AWACS in the air space of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland.
"One gets the impression that Russia overdramatizes the visit of AWACS aircraft to Baltic states and has difficulty accepting the fact that Lithuania and neighboring Baltic states are really joining NATO," Linkevicius said.
"Lithuania is becoming a member of the alliance and this means it will be using all the technical and defense means NATO uses, therefore the arrival of such aircraft in Lithuania should not surprise, scare or alarm anyone," he said.
In his opinion, the reply measures of the Russian side such as the flights of reconnaissance aircraft are possible in the framework established by international law and therefore did not surprise Lithuania, he said.