PM Vanhanen sees airspace violations as bilateral issue between Finland and Russia

Diplomatic note sent to Russia a month ago

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Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) wants to deal with the recent series of violations of Finnish airspace by Russian military planes as a bilateral issue between Finland and Russia. Speaking in a radio interview programme on Sunday, Vanhanen said that he does not yet want to bring the European Union into the matter.
      On Saturday, the European Commission gave its support to Finland's demand that Russia must immediately stop violating Finnish airspace.
      Last week it was revealed that Russian jets flying over the Gulf of Finland had strayed into Finnish airspace 20 times in the past year.
      Finland sent a diplomatic note over the repeated encroachments to Russia about four weeks ago. There has been no response.
     
The violations of Finnish airspace have taken place along the south coast of Finland between Porvoo and Hanko. The aircraft in question were identified as Russian Air Force Tu-134 transport jets and Antonov battle command planes similar to the US AWACS radar planes. The planes were flying a route between St. Petersburg at the eastern end of the Gulf of Finland and the Russian Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, when they deviated from the international air corridor over the Gulf of Finland.
      The government is not calling the incursions a deliberate provocation. However, it has urged Russia to provide an explanation of what happened.
      Prime Minister Vanhanen said that Finland expects an explanation from Russia before his scheduled visit to Moscow on the 7th of June.
     
Finland has not taken up the issue with the European Union. However, on Saturday, after the airspace violations had first been reported in the media, the European Commission expressed its support for Finnish demands that Russia immediately stop violating Finnish airspace.
      At the European Parliament, Finnish MEP Reino Paasilinna (SDP) said that Finland had done the right thing by seeking to resolve the matter bilaterally with Russia.
      "If it is not resolved on a bilateral basis, the matter needs to be brought to the EU level. However, Finland does not yet have a need to ask for help", Paasilinna said.
     
Prime Minister Vanhanen also wants to focus on a bilateral solution.
      "This is a matter between two neighbours. Outsiders are not needed, nor are they wanted. Now it is important to get precise information on what has happened", Vanhanen said in a regular Prime Minister’s interview programme on YLE Radio on Sunday.
      Vanhanen said that it is possible that information about the violations had not reached beyond the pilots in question to the highest levels in Russia.
      He also did not feel that the encroachments had anything to do with political relations between Finland and Russia, which have involved a certain amount of tension in the past year.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  PM Vanhanen to protest violations of Finnish air space by Russian war planes (20.5.2005)

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