Baltic nations request NATO protection

(Vatican Radio) The three Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - are asking the NATO military alliance to permanently deploy ground troops to their nations as a deterrent against what they views as an increasingly assertive Russia. Their appeal comes while NATO plans its biggest reinforcement of troops since the official end of the Cold War and reports that Russian aircraft approached British airspace Thursday.

Listen to Stefan Bos' report: 

The defense chiefs of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have requested a brigade-size unit of NATO troops - one battalion of 700-800 troops in each country amid concerns over what they view as Russian aggression in the region, including in Ukraine.

Speaking at a NATO ministers gathering in Turkey, NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said he was aware of their joint letter this week to the supreme allied commander in Europe and that the request would be assessed carefully.

Stoltenberg did not make any commitments, but he revealed that the NATO is already its already implementing historic changes to boost its defense capabilities.

"We are implementing the biggest reinforcement of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War," he told reporters in the Turkish city of Antalya. 

BOOSTING NATO FORCE

He added that the alliance NATO is "boosting the size of the NATO response force and also establishing a high readiness spearhead force, as the centrepiece of the enhanced NATO response force."

Stoltenberg added that he welcomes the decision by Turkey "to be a lead nation in this spearhead force, along with six other allies who will take turns over the years to come."

He said the changes are needed to tackle what he called "hybrid warfare" waged by Russia which he explained "combines different types of threats including conventional, subversion and cyber" attacks.

Stoltenberg said NATO faces "a more assertive Russia" responsible for "aggressive actions in Ukraine" where it annexed the Crimean Peninsula and thousands have been killed in ongoing clashes between pro-Russian rebels and government forces.

In one of the latest incidents beyond Ukraine's borders, British war planes were scrambled Thursday after two Russian military aircraft were seen flying towards British airspace on Thursday, officials said.