Sweden condemns Russia's violation of its airspace

This incident comes three months after the Scandinavian country joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and after two centuries of neutrality and then military non-alignment.

“On Friday afternoon, a SU-24 fighter jet violated Swedish airspace east of the southern tip of Jutland. The Swedish Air Combat Command warned the Russian plane with a verbal appeal,” the Swedish Armed Forces said in a statement.

“Because the warning was not heeded and the aircraft did not deviate from its course, it was expelled from Swedish airspace by two JAS-39 Gripen fighter aircraft,” it reads, which also specifies that the violation was “brief.” .

The base reopened in 2018

The island of Gotland is located less than 350 kilometers from the heavily militarized Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

According to Swedish military doctrine, whoever controls this island is able to largely control air and sea movements in the Baltic Sea.

Sweden reopened its garrison on Gotland in 2018, after years of military spending cuts that led to its closure in 2004.

The last Russian violation of Swedish airspace was in March 2022, when Swedish fighters intercepted two SU-24s and two SU-27s over Jutland.