http://www.helsinginsanomat.fi/engli.../1101979596885PM Vanhanen to protest violations of Finnish air space by Russian war planes
Encroachments take place over Gulf of Finland
* Russian Air Force planes have violated Finnish air space while flying over the Gulf of Finland about 20 times in the past year.
* * * The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has spoken about the encroachments with Russia’s Ambassador to Finland, Vladimir Grinin. The matter has also been discussed with the Russian military attaché. However, the violations have continued in spite of Finnish demands that they stop.
* * * The Finnish government has agreed that if the violations continue, Finland would take the issue to the highest political level, when Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) meets Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov in Moscow in early June.
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News of the repeated violations was made public on Thursday on a news broadcast on the commercial television network MTV3. Immediately after the broadcast, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs issued a brief statement confirming the story.
* * * According to the Foreign Ministry’s statement, the issue has been discussed with President Tarja Halonen and the government’s committee on foreign and security policy.
* * * Russian military planes have also repeatedly violated Estonian air space, prompting immediate protests. The Finnish Foreign Ministry opted for silent diplomacy, but the violations have continued.
* * * The encroachments into Finnish air space have taken place over the Gulf of Finland between Porvoo and Hanko. The planes in question have been flying between St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad. Finnish Air Force fighters were sent* to identify the Russian planes, which promptly left Finnish air space.
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The precise reasons why the Russian planes have deviated into Finnish air space are not known. Possible explanations include the increase in air traffic, indifference, and poor communications.
* * * The air corridor over the Gulf of Finland is somewhat narrow, but jet fighters should be able to stay within it.
* * * The Swedish-language newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet reported today that the Finnish government sees the repeated violations as a deliberate provocation. According to well-placed sources interviewed by the newspaper, Russia could be testing how Finland, and possibly the EU and NATO, will react.