Sweden Summons Russian Envoy over Military Jet Close Encounter

dpa/NAN

Sweden on Monday summoned Russia’s Ambassador to protest a recent close encounter involving a Swedish reconnaissance plane and a Russian fighter jet.

The Swedish military said earlier that the Russian SU-27 flew less than 20 metres from the reconnaissance plane, which was in international airspace over the Baltic Sea.

It called the incident “extraordinary.’’

Ambassador Victor Tatarintsev met with the head of the Swedish Foreign Ministry’s department for European security policy, Julius Liljestrom.

Liljestrom conveyed Sweden’s view that “the Russian aircraft acted in a ruthless and unprofessional manner in a way that jeopardised flight safety, and in the worst case this action could have resulted in a severe air accident,’’ a Foreign Ministry spokesman told dpa.

Sweden considered that the reconnaissance plane had the right to be in the area, the spokesman added.

Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist had also criticised the Russian plane’s actions in remarks to Swedish broadcaster SVT.

The Swedish military also published a photo of Feb. 18’s incident.

Sweden is not a member of NATO, but has since 1994 cooperated with the alliance within the Partnership for Peace (PFP) framework and participated in NATO-led operations in Afghanistan.

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