From the Lithuania Tribune:  Two German fighter jets F-4 Phantom were sent to the sky over Baltic Sea to escort of Russian bombers. “Today in the morning two German fighter jets, part of the NATO Air Policing mission (deployed in Siauliai Air Base), were sent to the sky. They identified and escorted two Russian aircraft TU-22M flying over the Baltic Sea,” Ugne Naujokaityte, spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania told Baltic News Service on February 17, Alfa.lt reported.

From 15min.lt:  Latvia’s Minister of Defence Artis Pabriks comments that efforts are being made to get information on military training manoeuvres that Russia has been carrying out in between Poland and the Baltic states.

"If we do not get information about the concrete objectives of the training, the Latvian population might get an impression that there is a connection between Russia’s strategic training and the referendum in Latvia," the Minister said.

On 18 February, Latvia is holding a referendum on making Russian the second state language.  (photo: Reuters)

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