Ambassadors of the Russian Federation summoned to the Foreign Ministries of Sweden and Denmark

In connection with the violation of the air borders of Sweden and Denmark by a Russian aircraft, the ambassadors of the Russian Federation were summoned to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of these countries.

According to Deutsche Wellereferring to the statements of the top leadership of these states on Sunday, May 1, the Russian reconnaissance AN-30 entered the airspace first of Denmark and then of Sweden.

According to the official informationOn Friday evening, a Russian aircraft entered Danish airspace east of Bornholm Island in the Baltic Sea and then moved into Swedish airspace. Referring to “Russia’s new violation of Danish air borders”, Jeppe Kofod, the Danish foreign minister tweeted on Sunday:

“The Russian ambassador has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry tomorrow. This is completely unacceptable and especially worrisome in the current situation.”

Kofod was referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Moscow’s growing tensions with NATO, of which Denmark is a member. Henrik Mortensen, spokesman for the Danish Defense Command, also commented on the incident in an interview with AFP, noting that such incidents are rare:

“It was a reconnaissance aircraft that was in our airspace for a very short time. Two Danish F-16s intervened immediately.”

The Swedish Foreign Ministry announced the call of the Russian ambassador in Stockholm:

“There are established procedures for such cases. In particular, we are talking about summoning a representative of the country involved to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

Russia opposes Sweden’s accession to NATO, but in response to a question from Dagens Nyheter, the Minister of Defense noted that there is no evidence that the violation is related to ongoing discussions about his country’s accession to NATO.

In Sweden, there is a debate about whether to abandon the non-bloc status and join the North Atlantic Alliance. Russia is already clear made it clearthat both Sweden and Finland, who are planning to join NATO, should think about the implications of such a move for bilateral relations and the overall security architecture of Europe.

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