BlackZodiac
September 14th, 2007, 02:50 PM
"HELSINKI, Finland: A Russian military plane violated Finland's airspace off the southern coast Friday morning, officials said, prompting the neutral Nordic country to demand an explanation from Moscow.
The Ilyushin-76 transporter plane flew about 4.5 kilometers (3 miles) into Finnish airspace for three minutes, the Defense Ministry said. The Frontier Guard opened an investigation.
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said Finland wants Russia to explain why the violation happened, but stopped short of presenting an official protest.
"These kinds of (violations) must not happen, that's our clear message here," Vanhanen said. "And when they do happen, then they need to be sorted out between the countries in question. That has to be done this time too."
Similar violations were observed in August 2005 and April last year, officials said.
Last year, Russia apologized for violating Finnish airspace, following about a dozen such incidents over a period of two years and a protest from Finland.
International airspace along the southern Finnish coast is narrow, and military observers had expected such violations, officials said.
"There's a lot of Russian airborne activity above the Gulf of Finland, especially between Kaliningrad and the Russian mainland," military spokesman Marko Luotonen said. "This didn't really come as a surprise."
Defense Minister Jyri Hakamies said that after the border guard's investigation, Finnish and Russian officials would meet to discuss how to avoid such violations.
"We believe that this incident can be settled between civil servants in the same way as before," Hakamies told reporters.
Russian planes, mostly military transporters, frequently fly between the Baltic port enclave of Kaliningrad and bases near the city of St. Petersburg.
Similar complaints of air violations have been made by Finland's southern neighbors, Estonia and the other Baltic states. In October 2005, a Russian fighter jet crashed in Lithuania."
Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/14/europe/EU-GEN-Finland-Russia-Air-Violation.php
The Ilyushin-76 transporter plane flew about 4.5 kilometers (3 miles) into Finnish airspace for three minutes, the Defense Ministry said. The Frontier Guard opened an investigation.
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said Finland wants Russia to explain why the violation happened, but stopped short of presenting an official protest.
"These kinds of (violations) must not happen, that's our clear message here," Vanhanen said. "And when they do happen, then they need to be sorted out between the countries in question. That has to be done this time too."
Similar violations were observed in August 2005 and April last year, officials said.
Last year, Russia apologized for violating Finnish airspace, following about a dozen such incidents over a period of two years and a protest from Finland.
International airspace along the southern Finnish coast is narrow, and military observers had expected such violations, officials said.
"There's a lot of Russian airborne activity above the Gulf of Finland, especially between Kaliningrad and the Russian mainland," military spokesman Marko Luotonen said. "This didn't really come as a surprise."
Defense Minister Jyri Hakamies said that after the border guard's investigation, Finnish and Russian officials would meet to discuss how to avoid such violations.
"We believe that this incident can be settled between civil servants in the same way as before," Hakamies told reporters.
Russian planes, mostly military transporters, frequently fly between the Baltic port enclave of Kaliningrad and bases near the city of St. Petersburg.
Similar complaints of air violations have been made by Finland's southern neighbors, Estonia and the other Baltic states. In October 2005, a Russian fighter jet crashed in Lithuania."
Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/14/europe/EU-GEN-Finland-Russia-Air-Violation.php