The Danish government has decided to send a group of F-16 fighters to patrol the airspace over the Baltic nations Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, according to Copenhagen Post on Thursday.

There would be six planes in the group, four of which would be active and two would remain grounded in reserve, the local newspaper said.

The Baltic countries reportedly feel threatened by Russia due to the crisis in Ukraine, and the Danish cabinet met Thursday to discuss a plan to dispatch the fighters in May.

"Some of the Baltic nations are a little concerned about their large neighbor, so they have asked their NATO partners if they can help provide a little more security and Denmark has agreed to this," Johannes Riber Nordby, a military analyst with the Danish defence academy Forsvarsakademiet was quoted as saying.

He said the jet group's mission would mostly involve the patrolling of the Baltic airspace in case any unexpected aircraft arrive. The three nations don't have their own air force and require assistance from NATO.

The mission may seem like an escalation of sorts considering the current state of affairs between Europe and Russia, but Nordby said: "I don't think the Russians have territorial ambitions in the Baltic nations at all, so I don't think that it will end in a 'warm war'." Endi

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