NATO ambassadors will hold talks Tuesday on the violation by Russian fighter jets of Estonian airspace, after Tallinn called urgent consultations under Article Four of the alliance’s founding treaty.

NATO scrambled jets after three Russian MiG-31 fighters on Friday breached Estonian airspace for some 12 minutes, triggering complaints of a dangerous new provocation and a denial from Moscow.

Estonia immediately called for urgent talks with NATO allies, less than two weeks after Poland did the same after claiming an incursion by a wave of Russian drones.

Under Article 4, any member can call emergency discussions when it feels its “territorial integrity, political independence or security” is at risk.

Tuesday’s talks will be the third time Article 4 has been invoked since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the ninth time it has been triggered in the alliance’s 79-year history.

NATO’s collective security is based on its Article 5 principle: if one member is attacked, the entire alliance comes to its defence.

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That article has only been invoked once in the history of NATO, following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

After Poland invoked Article 4 over the drone intrusion, NATO announced it was bolstering its defences along its eastern flank in a bid to better secure its frontier.

Estonia has also said the United Nations Security Council will convene a meeting on Monday over the Russian jet intrusion.

AFP