Sweden: Russian Military Jets Violate Air Space

[bananas]

Source: Associated Press

Sweden says it has summoned the Russian ambassador over an air space violation by two Russian military aircraft.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry said the planes crossed into Swedish air space south of the Baltic Sea island of Oland on Wednesday. The ministry called it a "serious violation."

Swedish newspaper Expressen first reported the incident, saying the planes were Sukhoi Su-24 combat planes that left Swedish air space when a Swedish Air Force fighter approached.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/sweden-russian-military-jets-violate-air-space-25627973

[Tarheel_Dem]

1. I think Merkel was right, he's lost his damned mind. nt

[MADem]

5. +1! nt

[bananas]

2. Formal Protest Lodged With Russian Ambassador; 'We Consider This Serious'

http://online.wsj.com/articles/sweden-complains-to-russia-over-airspace-violation-1411163347

Sweden Complains to Russia Over Airspace Violation

Formal Protest Lodged With Russian Ambassador; 'We Consider This Serious'

By Charles Duxbury And Christina Zander
Sept. 19, 2014 5:49 p.m. ET

STOCKHOLM—Sweden Friday lodged a formal protest with the Russian ambassador here over a violation of Swedish airspace by two Russian war planes in the latest sign of rising tension between Moscow and its Western neighbors.

The Swedish foreign ministry said the planes flew in and out of Swedish airspace south of the island of Oland in the Baltic...

<snip>

The rest is paywalled.

[bananas]

3. Sweden Complains to Russia Over Airspace Violation

This seems to be the WSJ article, and is not paywalled.
It's quite a bit longer than this excerpt:

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/sweden-complains-to-russia-over-airspace-violation-20140919-00535

Sweden Complains to Russia Over Airspace Violation
By Dow Jones Business News, September 19, 2014, 06:15:00 PM EDT

STOCKHOLM--Sweden Friday lodged a formal protest with the Russian ambassador here over a violation of Swedish airspace by two Russian war planes in the latest sign of rising tension between Moscow and its Western neighbors.

The Swedish foreign ministry said the planes flew in and out of Swedish airspace south of the island of Oland in the Baltic Sea Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told Swedish public-service television this was the first time in his eight years in the post that his ministry had deemed it necessary to call in an ambassador to complain over a violation of Swedish airspace.

"We consider this serious," he said.

<snip>

Write to Charles Duxbury at [e-mail] and Christina Zander at [e-mail]

[bananas]

4. Russian planes were in Swedish airspace for about 30 seconds.

http://www.dw.de/us-fighter-planes-intercept-russian-combat-jets-off-alaska-sweden-protests-violation/a-17936231

US fighter planes intercept Russian combat jets off Alaska, Sweden protests 'violation'

Date 20.09.2014

Eight Russian planes, including long-range bombers, were intercepted this week by US and Canadian pilots. Meanwhile, Sweden has made its displeasure known to the Russian government after similar incursions.

<snip>

Sweden complained on Friday that Russian fighter planes had violated its airspace this week, summoning the Russian ambassador to the foreign ministry in Stockholm.

The Russian planes were said to have been in Swedish airspace, near the Baltic Sea island of Oland, on Wednesday for about 30 seconds. The combat jets, reported to have been Sukhoi Su-24s were detected initially by radar and left when a Swedish Gripen jet was sent to the area.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said the incident was "a major violation" adding that it was the worst he had seen since he became the country's top diplomat in 2006.

Finland, which like Sweden is not a NATO member, has also experienced recent violations of its airspace by Russian planes. Both countries have worked with the alliance since 1994 as part of the Partnership for Peace agreement, and recently upgraded their level of cooperation with NATO members.

<snip>

[jakeXT]

6. When the US does it, it's ok

http://www.thelocal.se/20140803/us-admits-swedish-airspace-incursion

US authorities told the CNN news channel that the plane was conducting reconnaissance missions in international airspace when it was observed by Russian radar. Russia is reported to have scrambled aircraft to chase the US plane away.

The US crew elected to exit the area by the fastest route possible, which meant passing through Swedish airspace.

The flight passed over Gotland, an island off the east coast of Sweden, on July 18th in the late afternoon.

A classified document from the Swedish Defence Force, which was leaked last Wednesday, revealed that the mystery flight passed over Swedish airspace from the east. This information has now been confirmed by the US.

[KinMd]

7. Wouldn't surprise me if Sweden knew we'd fly over their space..

if we needed to, and we'd do the apology thing after

[jakeXT]

8. In the 80's they thought every sub was a Soviet one

Whisky on the Rocks

On October 27, 1981, the S-363 -- a 250-foot, Soviet Whisky-class diesel attack submarine -- ran aground on an island in the Baltic Sea near the southern Swedish town of Karlskrona, which is also the site of a large Swedish naval base. The submarine was deep inside Swedish territorial waters -- needless to say, without permission -- in a blatant violation of Swedish sovereignty; even worse, it was armed with at least one nuclear weapon.

A predictable uproar ensued, with Swedish politicians uniting to condemn the Soviet Union’s illegal actions, while the Soviets offered lame excuses for the mishap, which the Western press dubbed “Whisky on the Rocks.” But it was perfectly clear that the sub had been snooping on Swedish naval defenses. A former Soviet intelligence officer later revealed that the submarine probably ran aground because its crew was intoxicated (drunk spying = you’re doing it wrong). A Soviet rescue fleet was forced to withdraw after the Swedes threatened it with coastal artillery, planes, and torpedo boats. The Swedes eventually gave the stricken S-363 back to the Soviets, but the whole thing was basically a hopeless diplomatic debacle for the Soviet Union.

With the scene set, American and British intelligence quickly moved to exploit the opening provided by Soviet bungling with a series of “false flag” missions, in the form of submarine intrusions, which the Swedes also blamed on the Soviet Union. According to Ola Tunander’s book The Secret War Against Sweden, the intrusions were designed to create the appearance of escalating Soviet infringement of Swedish neutrality -- when in fact it was American and British submarines all along. And it worked like a charm.

Naval Whack-A-Mole

In October 1982, the sighting of an unknown periscope set alarm bells ringing in the Swedish military, leading to a series of submarine “hunts” by the Swedish navy, some targeting the elusive vessels with depth charges and mines. These came to resemble a frantic game of “whack-a-mole,” as submarine periscopes popped up and then disappeared with infuriating frequency along the Swedish coast; the Kremlin, it seemed, wanted to really rub the intrusions in Sweden’s face.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/27379/international-head-games-turning-sweden-against-soviets

[EX500rider]

9. Key phrase: "According to Ola Tunander’s book"

Which may or may not be true?
No doubt Soviet subs tested the waters around NATO and neutral countries I'd say.

[Quantess]

11. Of course it's okay! Are you kidding?

Sweden doesn't see the US as a threat. Russia has been considered somewhat threatening to Sweden for a while now.

[geek tragedy]

10. NATO membership got to be looking pretty attractive now that the Evil Empire is

back and crazier than ever.

[DavidDvorkin]

12. It's okay; they're just looking for Nazis.