Spanish Defence Minister's Airplane under way in GPS near Russian enclave

The military plane was flying near Russia's Kaliningrad enclave on Wednesday morning when the incident reportedly occurred.

Margarita Robles was the minister reportedly on the flight, according to Spanish officials.

She was due to hold a bilateral meeting with Lithuanian counterpart Dovile Sakaliene during a visit to the Syauliai air base on Wednesday, according to the Spanish government's agenda.

The plane also held relatives of Spanish pilots, which form part of NATO's new air defence mission on Europe's east wing, Telegrafi reports. Periscope.

The plane left early this month after Poland fell down fears that had violated its airspace.

The Spanish contingent last week interviewed eight Russian planes operating on the Baltic Sea, Spain's Defence Ministry added in a statement.

A commander aboard the Spanish plane said such incidents are common when flying near Kaliningrad, both for civilian and military planes.

Robles, 68, has been the minister of defence in Spain since 2018.

In June, she said Spain was “obsolutely dedicated” to NATO and the European Union.

Later, in August, the minister said Spain would work to “revive” the project of European fighter planes, known as FCAS.

This happened after Spain found that it was no longer considering the possibility of buying US-made F-35 fighter planes, and it would refocus its defence expenses in the purchase of equipment produced in Europe. /Periscope/