A Russian jet violated Swedish airspace east of the Baltic island of Gotland on Friday and was met by two Swedish fighter jets, a spokesman for the Swedish armed forces said.
The Swedish armed forces said that the Russian SU-24 military aircraft received a warning but did not respond, after which two Swedish Gripen fighters were sent to meet them.
“Russian actions are not acceptable and show a lack of respect for our territorial integrity. We followed the entire chain of events and were ready to intervene,” said Swedish Air Force Commander Jonas Wikman.
In March, Sweden officially became NATO’s 32nd member, at a pivotal moment for the historically neutral country. The members of the military alliance agree that if one of them is attacked, the other countries should help defend it.
Last week, Finland’s defense ministry said an investigation had been launched after a Russian military Avon was suspected of violating Finnish airspace, flying about 2.5 km inside the Nordic country’s border.
The breach in the eastern Gulf of Finland lasted about two minutes, the ministry said, and the country’s Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen warned that Finland, which joined NATO in April 2023, was taking the “alleged territorial violation” seriously, Klix.ba writes.
