In recent months, Finland has repeatedly partially closed its airspace due to Ukrainian drone attacks on targets near St. Petersburg. The most recent incident took place on Tuesday morning.  

Karu said the EDF assesses the drone threat based on its own threat assessment and makes the necessary decisions according to the specific situation.

"Finland applies measures based on its national threat assessment, and its decisions have not resulted in any changes to the activities or readiness of the EDF. The Estonian Air Force maintains round-the-clock readiness and, if necessary, responds to all aerial threats according to their nature. I cannot disclose specific details," he said.

Karu also declined, for security reasons, to share surveillance data related to Tuesday's attack. As a result, he would not say whether the EDF detected drones or other objects moving near Estonian airspace during the attack.

ERR asked Karu under what circumstances Estonia would also consider temporarily closing all or part of its airspace, similar to Finland.

"Estonia has previously imposed restrictions on activity in its airspace, including flight restrictions that remain in force in eastern Estonia," the colonel replied.

He stressed that imposing such restrictions requires either an immediate military threat or an operational need to ensure the Defense Forces have an unobstructed area in which to operate.

"Estonia and Finland are both NATO member states, and the tactics and principles are very similar in both countries: isolate the danger area to protect civilian air traffic and provide the Defense Forces with room to assess the threat and, if necessary, intervene," Karu said.

The most recent publicly known security incident in Estonian airspace occurred on June 3, when a drone crashed into a field in Põltsamaa Rural Municipality. Karu noted that if there is no danger to the public, the authorities will not issue public notifications.

"Public notifications and danger alerts [SMS messages or public warnings] are issued when there is an immediate threat directly affecting civilians. If detected flying objects pose no direct threat to the public or critical infrastructure, such situations are handled at the operational level without causing unnecessary public alarm," the Air Force chief of staff said.

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