Last week Finland announced that it was stepping up air response readiness following three separate cases in which Russian aircraft strayed into Finnish skies. Hornet combat jets have been moved to support bases in the south of Finland and will conduct surveillance flights over the capital and southern regions during the week ahead, a defense force spokesperson told YLE Monday.
In less than a week Finnish airspace was violated three times by Russian aircraft – twice near Porvoo and once near Hanko.
Finland’s Prime Minister Alexander Stubb calls the repeated incursions into Finnish airspace deliberate attempts by Russia to provoke. The prime minister said the three alleged violations by Russian aircraft within the space of one week were “not a question of an accident”, and said the behavior gave a “bad message”, YLE writes.
Neighboring Sweden also increased air force readiness, citing the deteriorating situation in east Ukraine and increased Russian aviation traffic over the Baltic Sea. Gripen aircraft have been moved to Gotland, according to Svenska Dagbladet.
