Denmark, Sweden summoning Russian envoys for airspace breaches

By: 3 years ago

Denmark’s Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod speaks to journalists in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Copenhagen on February 11, 2022 as he encouraged Danes in Ukraine to leave the country. AFP FILE PHOTO

COPENHAGEN—Denmark and Sweden are summoning Russia’s ambassadors after a Russian spyplane violated the air space of both countries, their governments said Sunday.

Officials said the plane entered Danish airspace on Friday evening east of the Danish Baltic island of Bornholm before flying into Swedish airspace.

“The Russian ambassador is summoned to the foreign ministry tomorrow,” Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod tweeted on Sunday, referring to a “new Russian violation of Danish airspace”.

The Swedish foreign ministry also said the Russian ambassador would be summoned in Stockholm.

“There exist established procedures for this kind of case. It concerns notably summoning the representative of the implicated nation to the foreign ministry,” it said in an email.

Kofod added it was “totally unacceptable and particularly worrying in the current situation”, alluding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising tensions with Nato, where Denmark is a member.

Henrik Mortensen, a Danish Defense Command press officer, told AFP on Sunday about the incident.

“It was a reconnaissance plane that was in our airspace for a very brief moment. Two Danish F-16 immediately intervened,” Mortensen said, adding that such incidents are rare.

Denmark is a member of Nato, unlike Sweden where a debate is taking place over whether it should abandon its non-aligned status and join the alliance.

Questioned by the Dagens Nyheter newspaper, the Swedish defense minister said there was no proof that the breach was linked to current discussions on Stockholm eventually joining Nato.

Russia has already signaled that Stockholm and Helsinki, which is also contemplating membership, should consider the consequences of such a move on bilateral relations and Europe’s overall security architecture.