The Baltic Times reports that NATO has intercepted Russian aircraft near the Baltic borders up to 50 times a week:

A Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying near Latvian waters was intercepted this week by NATO fighters.

Latvian Defense Minister Raimonds Vejonis said that the increasing frequency of Russian military aircraft flying near Baltic borders shows that NATO must have a permanent presence in the region.

''The events in the recent weeks prove the alliance's solidarity amongst allies, and demonstrates that our allies will protect our security,'' he said.

While the Russian media freaks out about the discussion surrounding increasing NATO troops in eastern Europe and threats of new sanctions discussed by the United States Senate back in May, the bottom line is that Russia has given NATO every reason to increase its presence in the region, especially since NATO's thinned presence in eastern Europe is being stretched by responding to all of these near-border intercepts.