Denmark, Sweden summon Russian envoys over airspace breaches
- Airspace breaches came amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising tensions between Moscow and Nato
- Sweden, along with Nordic neighbor Finland, have started began deliberating membership in Nato
Denmark and Sweden were 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 Defence Command press officer, said on Sunday about the incident.