The prime minister spoke to ETV's evening news show "Aktuaalne kaamera" after three Russian Air Force MiG-31 jets violated Estonia's airspace over the island of Vaindloo in the Gulf of Finland.

Today is a day when Russia has quite clearly provoked us, so the time is right to inform NATO how they should defend us. What have we asked for, and what have we been promised?

First of all, I would say that NATO's air defenses did work – the planes scrambled and forced the Russian planes to leave. But naturally, to be in Estonian airspace for such a long period of time, that is at the very least malicious, if not a planned operation. I have also been in contact with the NATO Secretary General several times already, and our request is to invoke Article 4, which means political consultations among allies, then the North Atlantic Council is to assemble to discuss and decide what else is needed.

Luckily [NATO] Operation Eastern Sentry has also been initiated, which focuses on Poland and the Baltic states specifically. But our message with Article Four is still that the protection of our airspace and its violation in the Baltic states must also be taken just as seriously, and Russia's desperate steps and escalation must also be taken seriously.

Did those Russian planes depart right away, once they saw the NATO air policing fighter jets?

They had had the opportunity to leave earlier.

So they acted somewhat arrogantly?

They certainly acted in that way that we exactly expect from the Russians.

Why didn't we shoot down any of them? That would have sent a very clear message to Russia.

I would say that there are certainly various parameters for the use of force. They were escorted out of here after they had received the signal. But they did not leave as quickly as they could have. So, Article Four and consultations in NATO with our allies and also with the Supreme Commander will clarify what we will do next time. But NATO is working, and NATO is ready; its reaction capabilities are very good.

When we talk about the air policing mission, then this really is just that, an air policing mission, it is not a defensive mission. Those fighter jets overhead should not be observers, but concrete war machines. And this has been talked about since 2014, when Crimea was annexed. Why is this still the case?

This is to eliminate any doubt. We have the ability to carry out in the airspace what we need, together with our NATO allies. But in the aftermath of the intrusion into Polish airspace, Operation Eastern Sentry is being launched, which raises capabilities precisely on the eastern flank – in the Baltic states and Poland.

Will it still remain an air policing mission?

The exact parameters are now for NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, or SACEUR, to formulate, and we will start discussing this next week.

Does this mean that those F-35s, which really are super planes, can actually shoot down a Russian plane today, where necessary? If they are here again tomorrow?

Those planes are capable of everything, and we have the means for that as well.

We are today, at this very point, practically the top story in all the world's media channels. Have we acted and is NATO acting in a way that we leave a strong impression of ourselves?

I would venture to say yes. It is logical that in democratic countries and in a military alliance, consultations are held, and allies are informed. As well as the other side, the practical side. As in Poland, NATO reacted and shot down drones from that airspace. Here, NATO reacted. These are someone else's planes, our NATO partner's planes, the most state-of-the-art in the world. The F-35s scrambled and finally forced the Russians to leave from here.

What has to happen for us to down them?

Everything has its parameters. My desire is that it would be clear to the Russians that they have no reason even to come wandering in here, not that we would get to the point where we start shooting them down here.

It will be clear to them when they get shot down.

I understand that aggressiveness, I understand that attitude, but the direction we are moving in is that there should be no hazard to the Estonian state, the Estonian people, Estonian airspace, plus that the Russians would know to keep far away from here, as from everywhere in the Baltic states, and from Poland.

It is simply safer to attack over Vaindloo than over Tallinn.

Yes, I am sure that as military advice that is entirely valid. But once again — we act so that this message would be clear. And even if we have the most powerful and most modern fighter jets in the world safeguarding our airspace, that this would also be abundantly clear to the Russians.

Background

Three Russian MiG-31 ("Foxhound") supersonic interceptor jets violated Estonian airspace near Vaindloo Island for nearly 12 minutes on Friday morning. They were flying without flight plans, transponders in the on position on a recognized frequency, and with no radio contact.

Italian Air Force F-35s from the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission intercepted and escorted the jets out of Estonian airspace, toward Russia's Kaliningrad exclave to the south.

This was Russia's fourth and most serious airspace breach against Estonia in 2025, as earlier incidents lasted a maximum of four minutes.

Michal called the act "unacceptable" and accused Russia of trying to divert NATO's focus from Ukraine. Estonia summoned the Russian chargé d'affaires and is to invoke NATO's Article 4 for allied consultations.

NATO allies including the UK, France, Finland, and Germany have expressed solidarity. The violation follows drone incursions into Polish airspace last week.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and X and never miss an update!