Finnish President Alexander Stubb said he would not order the immediate shooting down of objects that violate his countryʼs airspace, noting that this is "a matter for the military to decide".
He said this in an interview with CNN, commenting on US President Donald Trumpʼs recent call to shoot down Russian planes in NATO airspace.
"No. We have protocols… So basically, first we check, then we announce, and then the Air Force decides what needs to be done," he explained.
Stubb also added that a carrot and stick approach should be applied in relations with Russia.
"First we tried the carrot and stick, and now President Trump is showing the stick. And I believe the drone shooting down statement is part of that," he said.
According to the Finnish leader, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is implementing a two-pronged strategy: a conventional war in Ukraine and a hybrid war in the West.
"In such situations, we have to do two things: first, stay calm. Second, strengthen our defenses so that this does not happen again. The main thing is not to react too violently," he said.
Violation of NATO airspace by Russia
On the night of September 10, Polish airspace was violated by Russian drones during Russiaʼs attack on Ukraine. This was the first time that Polish aviation shot down drones over its territory.
On the evening of September 13, Russian drones once again flew into Romanian territory. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the drone entered Romanian territory by almost 10 km and was in the airspace of a NATO country for approximately 50 minutes.
Drone debris was also found on the beaches of Bulgaria and Latvia.
Three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland without permission on September 19 and remained there for a total of 12 minutes.
On September 23, the main airport in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, was closed for four hours because of drones. Denmark called the incident the most serious attack on its critical infrastructure and linked it to a series of Russian drone incursions and other violations across Europe.
That same night, drones were spotted over Norway’s main airport.
On the night of September 26, unidentified drones were spotted over the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, which borders Denmark. At the same time, drones were recorded near a Swedish naval base.
Against this backdrop, Germany reported the creation of a new Drone Protection Center.
On September 27, Lithuania, Denmark and Finland also reported sightings of unidentified drones in their airspace. In Finland, an unidentified drone was launched over the Valayaskoski power plant in Rovaniemi. In Denmark, drones were spotted over several Armed Forces facilities. And in Lithuania, three drones were flying near Vilnius airport.
On September 28, unidentified drones were again spotted near military facilities in Denmark. On the same day, in Norway, several flights were forced to change routes in the evening due to unidentified drones.
Author: Yulia Zavadska
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