"It is time to reconsider Finland's reporting policy on airspace violations", announced Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre Party) during Parliamentary question-time on Thursday.
Vanhanen noted that for decades incursions by Russian military planes into Finnish airspace have been kept as classified information.
When MP Ben Zyskowicz (National Coalition) asked whether the government would have reported the recent series of encroachments had they not been made public by the commercial television network MTV3 in a news broadcast, the Prime Minister merely stated that when Finland issued Russia a diplomatic note on the matter in April, it was withheld from the media.
Vanhanen refrained from commenting on whether the incursions would have been made public at a later date after first settling the matter with Russia on the diplomatic level.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja (SDP) failed to respond to MP Jari Vilén's (National Coalition) enquiry on whether it was normal that even after a month Russia still had not replied to Finland's diplomatic note.
MP Astrid Thors (Swedish People's Party) asked if the government was aware that European Commissioner Olli Rehn was planning to bring up the subject of airspace violations in the EU Commission.
Such preliminary discussions in the EU Commission were reported earlier by the Sunday edition of Helsingin Sanomat.
"I was not aware of Rehn having planned to inform the Commission regarding the matter. Neither have I asked if he has requested the Commission back up Finland. Finland certainly has not issued such a request", answered Vanhanen, and he emphasised that airspace violations fall under the jurisdiction of individual member states.
