April 2, 2004 (by Lieven Dewitte) - According to the Russian news agency Itar-Tass, the NATO has cancelled the flight of two Belgian F-16 fighter jets in the skies of Vilnius, Tallinn and Riga on Friday. The flight was bound to mark the official accession of the three Baltic republics to the NATO.

"One of the jets was already in the air when the NATO command banned the flight because of the lack of an official permission from the NATO flight-coordinating agency," a representative of the Lithuanian Defense Ministry said.

Related articles:

• Danish F-16s could patrol the Baltic countries (2004-03-12)
• Other General F-16 News
• News archive for April 2004