Fighter jets scramble, interrupt leaders in Lithuania

Shafaq News/ A news conference at a NATO air base in Lithuania featuring Lithuania’s president and Spain’s prime minister got abruptly cut off Thursday when the pair of Spanish fighter jets serving as the leaders’ backdrop were scrambled to monitor errant military aircraft in the skies above the Baltics.

The Spanish government said an unidentified plane prompted the alert and briefly interrupted remarks by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Spanish media reported that the plane was Russian, but the government’s statement didn’t specify.

A NATO official who spoke on customary condition of anonymity told The Associated Press later Thursday that Spain’s jets took off “to identify two aircraft flying into the Baltic Sea area.” The planes were two Russian Su-24 combat jets heading northeast, the official said.

“Those two Russian jets did not file a flight plan, did not have their flight transponder on, or talk to traffic controllers,” the official said.

Source: Associated Press