AMDL chiobu Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin speaks during a press conference at the Maximos Mansion in Athens on Apr 28, 2022. (File photo: AFP/Angelos Tzortzinis)
04 May 2022 11:42PM(Updated: 04 May 2022 11:50PM)
HELSINKI, Finland: A Russian army helicopter violated Finland's airspace on Wednesday (May 4), the Finnish defence ministry said, as the country mulls a potential North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership bid, which it hopes would be speedy.
"The aircraft type is a Mi-17 helicopter and the depth of the suspected violation is about four to five kilometres", a ministry spokesman told AFP.
The incident occurred on Wednesday at 10.40am local time (7.40am GMT).
This is the second Russian airspace violation this year, following a previous one in April, both of them coming in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
A civilian transport plane belonging to the Russian army briefly entered Finnish airspace on Apr 8.
Experts have warned that Finland and Sweden would likely be subjected to Russian acts of interference as they consider whether to join NATO as a deterrent against aggression from their eastern neighbour.
Hostile acts such as cyberattacks are also considered likely, according to analysts, who have however said that the risk of a military attack was low.
A large majority of Finnish members of parliament and the public are in favour of joining the Atlantic Alliance, and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto is to announce his personal stance on the issue on May 12.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Wednesday that should her country apply, alone or together with neighbouring Sweden, she hopes the application process would be completed "as fast as possible".
"If Finland and Sweden would decide to apply for a NATO membership, the key issue is to keep the ratification process as short as possible," Marin said.
Helsinki is holding talks with key members of the alliance to obtain security guarantees during the application period, which could last several months, Marin told a joint press conference with Nordic leaders in Copenhagen.
According to Finnish media reports, the government's decision could be made in the next few days.
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