TALLINN, Estonia -- NATO's chief says Russia's increased military
activity in the skies above the Baltic region is "unjustified" and poses
a risk to civil aviation because aircraft regularly fail to file flight
plans or communicate with air controllers.
During a visit to an air base in NATO-member Estonia on Thursday,
Stoltenberg said the alliance "should stay vigilant" because of Russia's
increased "military air activity," even though most flights occurred in
international airspace.
NATO, which has 16 fighter jets in the region monitoring Baltic
airspace, says it regularly launches jets to identify "unknown or
potentially hostile aircraft" in the proximity of national airspace.
ESTONIA
NATO member Estonia says Russian aircraft have violated its airspace
six times this year, a sharp increase compared to previous years.
The most serious incident happened on Oct. 21, when a Russian
Ilyushin-20 surveillance aircraft crossed into Estonia's airspace for
about a minute near the island of Saaremaa. Estonia summoned Russia's
ambassador to lodge a formal complaint.
Another example took place near the island of Vaindloo in the Gulf of
Finland near a corridor where Russian military planes fly to get from
the St. Petersburg area to the Russian outpost of Kaliningrad, which is
wedged between Poland and Lithuania.
LATVIA
Latvia hasn't seen any airspace violations by Russian aircraft this
year. But Latvia's Defence Ministry says it has recorded more than 180
incidents of Russian military planes straying "dangerously close" to
Latvia's airspace without identifying themselves.
Defence Ministry spokesman Kaspars Galkins said Russian military
planes, as a rule, fail to submit flight plans and have switched off
their transponders.
LITHUANIA
No airspace violations by Russian aircraft so far this year, but
Defence Ministry says Russian activity close to Lithuania's airspace has
grown substantially.
Lithuania says Russia's military flights violate International Civil
Aviation Organization regulations and pose a risk to civil aviation by
failing to report flight plans, ignoring civilian air traffic
controllers and switching off their on-board transponders.
On March 27, 2012, an SU-27 Russian fighter plane entering from
Kaliningrad strayed some 12 kilometres (8 miles) into Lithuania's
airspace, the Defence Ministry says.
FINLAND
On Aug. 28, a Russian AN-72 transport plane briefly entered Finnish
airspace over the Gulf of Finland. Finland's defence minister, Carl
Haglund, said he suspected that was intentional and he demanded an
explanation from Moscow. The Finnish Border Guard said the flight plan
indicated the Russian carrier Aeroflot as being the transport flight's
operator.
Two other Russian violations of Finland's airspace occurred a few days
earlier, involving a Tupolev TU-134 jet and an AN-26 cargo plane.
SWEDEN
Last month the non-NATO member launched its first submarine hunt since
the collapse of the Soviet Union. Sweden said a small, foreign submarine
entered its waters illegally but never found it and didn't disclose its
nationality.
Sweden's armed forces say foreign aircraft -- including Russian and
NATO planes -- have breached Swedish airspace 10 times this year, up
from eight last year and seven in 2012.
On Sept. 17 two Russian SU-24 bombers crossed the border south of Oland
island for about 30 seconds, leaving only after Swedish air force
fighters approached them.
Sweden's military says its own spy planes flying over the Baltic Sea
have been approached by Russian planes flying unusually close. But it's
not just Russian aircraft. On July 18, an American spy plane entered
Swedish airspace to avoid Russian military planes.
DENMARK
No airspace violations recorded, but on March 3 an SAS passenger jet
taking off from Copenhagen Airport nearly collided with a Russian spy
plane. This happened in international airspace near Sweden, and its
investigators said the Russian plane came within 100 metres (300 feet)
of the SAS plane. The Ilyushin-20, flying without transponders, wasn't
registered by civilian air traffic controllers.
POLAND
Polish officials reported one air space violation in April by a
military aircraft of a foreign country, and a NATO military official
identified it as a Russian aircraft.
