WARSAW, Dec. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Poland will take over the mission of guarding the airspace of Baltic Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia from Dec. 31, 2005, the Polish News Agency said Sunday.

    Authorized by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Polish Air Force will protect the three countries' airspace and prevent any possible violations, as well as helping malfunctioned civilian or military aircraft in permitted flights.

    According to the Polish Defense Ministry, Poland is to station four MiG-29 fighters in a Lithuanian air base and the fighters will patrol in pairs 24 hours every day.

    The three Baltic countries, without fighters, have their airspace guarded by other NATO member countries on a rotation basis since they joined the bloc on March 29, 2004. Enditem