Czech Air Force to guard Lithuanian air space until end of September

Czech Army planes will patrol the Baltic airspace until the end of September, two months longer than originally planned, Defence Minister Jana Černochová announced on Wednesday, adding that this was in response to a request from Lithuania.

Five Czech Gripen fighter jets and 95 military personnel have been monitoring the Baltic airspace within a NATO mission since the start of April.

It is the fourth mission of Czech pilots in the Baltics and the seventh time in total that the Czech Air Force has been deployed to protect NATO member states.