EU foreign policy chief urges UN to condemn Russian airspace violations

GENEVA

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Monday urged the UN Security Council to condemn what she described as deliberate Russian provocations against EU member states, citing a recent violation of Estonia's airspace.

Speaking at the council's meeting on threats to international peace and security, Kallas alleged that Russia is "actively seeking to undermine the values and principles the nations of the United Nations have committed to upholding."

She pointed to an incident last week in which three armed Russian fighter jets blatantly violated Estonian airspace, "the same type of fighter jets that regularly bomb innocent civilians in Kyiv." Calling the breach "unprecedented in both scale and recklessness," she said it "was a deliberate provocation that could have ended with devastating results."

Kallas noted this came after Russian drones entered Polish and Romanian airspace a week earlier.

"It cannot be that Russia accidentally violates European airspace three times in two weeks. European airspace. And if it was a mistake, there has been plenty of time for the Russian Federation to apologize," she said. "Instead, we see a pattern. Russia is testing European borders ... undermining the security of the whole of Europe."

She told council members: "It is particularly cynical that the permanent member of the UN Security Council entrusted with safeguarding peace actively seeks to undermine it."

The foreign policy chief stressed that European security starts with Ukraine, and any provocation against EU member states will "only strengthen our resolve to support Ukraine."

Outlining the EU's response, she said: "First, we stand in full solidarity with Estonia, Poland, and Romania. Second, we collectively condemn Russian sovereignty violations. And third, the European Union will continue to help strengthen European defense and deterrence, together with NATO. And fourth, for every test or every violation of our security, our resolve to support Ukraine grows."

"Russia cannot be allowed to normalize such behavior. International law is not optional," Kallas said and urged: "I call on you to condemn Russia's violation of Estonia's airspace."