A Russian reconnaissance plane briefly violated Swedish airspace on Friday, officials from the Scandinavian country, which has been studying the possibility of joining NATO since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said on Saturday.
“A Russian AN-30 propeller aircraft violated Swedish airspace on Friday,” the Swedish Defense Ministry said in a statement. Its teams recorded the entire incident and took photographs.
“The plane was east of Bornholm [ilha dinamarquesa no mar Báltico] And then moved on to Swedish territory,” the statement said.
Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist condemned the Russian action.
“Violating Swedish airspace is completely unacceptable. This action is unprofessional and, given the general security situation, is highly inappropriate. Swedish sovereignty must always be respected,” Hultquist wrote on public television SVT.
“Obviously we are going to protest through diplomatic channels,” he said.
In early March, four Russian warplanes briefly entered Swedish airspace, east of the Baltic island of Gotland.
The invasion of Ukraine prompted Sweden, a non-aligned country, to change its position on possible membership of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
Currently, 54% of Sweden’s members agree to membership, according to a Novus poll published on Saturday.
The Swedish Social Democrat government has set a deadline of 24 May to decide whether to apply to join NATO.
