European nations at UN Security Council denounce Estonian airspace 'violation' by Russia

HAMILTON, Canada

European members of the UN Security Council strongly condemned Russia on Monday after Estonia accused Moscow of violating its airspace, warning the incident threatened wider European security.

"Let there be no doubt. I condemn this latest violation of Estonia's territorial integrity by Russia. Our support for Estonia remains steadfast, our resolve to stand by our allies remains equally firm," Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen affirmed at an emergency briefing under the agenda item "Threats to international peace and security."

Noting that "Denmark and its allies will not be provoked by Russia," Rasmussen said that Russia's latest move "only strengthens our resolve and further intensifies our long-standing support for Ukraine, whatever threats are made."

Rasmussen also urged Moscow to "step back, step back. Take another path. We will not allow the unraveling of the European security architecture."

Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis called the incursion part of a growing pattern, and argued: "Reckless acts of this kind are not new, but their successive recurrence indicates they are not mere coincidences."

"As the saying goes, once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three is a pattern," he said, adding that Greece "unequivocally condemns the violation of Estonia's and, for that matter, any member state's airspace."

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper described the incident as "dangerous and reckless" at best and "a deliberate attempt to undermine the territorial integrity of sovereign nations and European security" at worst.

Such acts "risk miscalculation" and "open the door to direct armed confrontation between NATO and Russia," she warned, stressing that "NATO's combined strength is unparalleled, and its determination to defend peace and security in Europe is unshakable."

"Russia's imperialist warmongering is a threat to international peace and security," she said, arguing that "it is a threat to the values and principles that underpin this organization."

Slovenia's State Secretary Melita Gabric echoed that message, telling the council: "We condemn this escalation at a time when tensions are already dangerously high. This is not the moment for military provocation."

"Slovenia says a clear and principled no to such behavior wherever it may occur and whoever may be the perpetrator," Gabric added.

- 'European nations fueling Russophobic hysteria'

Meanwhile, Russia's deputy UN envoy Dmitry Polyansky dismissed the allegations as unfounded, accusing European nations of fueling "Russophobic hysteria."

Arguing that similar accusations had surfaced before, he recalled that "just last week, we were compelled to listen in this chamber to groundless accusations about supposedly Russian UAVs entering Polish airspace.

"Not a single piece of evidence that these drones were of Russian provenance has been provided to date," he said, adding: "The Lublin Province incident was later linked to 'a missile erroneously being dropped from a Polish fighter jet'."

In Estonia, he said Moscow's jets "did not stray from their great route, nor did they cross into Estonian airspace," insisting their trajectory was "over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea, over three kilometers from the island of Vaindloo."

Accusing Tallinn and its allies of politicizing the incident, he said: "Without a doubt, we understand that the hysteria of our European colleagues is also directed at trying to return the new US administration, including President (Donald) Trump, to an anti-Russian course."

Polyansky further dismissed the council's session as "theater of the absurd," telling European states: "If you want to get hysterical, to ferment, and to continue levying baseless accusations, go right ahead, but do that without our participation. We won't be partaking in this theater of the absurd, and you don't need us there."

"When you decide that you want to engage in a serious discussion about European security, about the fate of our common continent, about how to make this continent prosperous and secure for everybody, we'll be ready. You know where to find us," he said.