Helsinki: A Russian military helicopter breached Finland’s airspace on Wednesday, the defense ministry said, as the country considers a possible NATO membership bid, which it hopes will be swift.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Wednesday that if Helsinki applies alone or with neighboring Sweden, he hopes the application process will be completed as soon as possible.
Marin told a joint news conference with Nordic leaders in Copenhagen that Helsinki is in talks with key coalition members to obtain security guarantees during the application period, which could last several months.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Defense Minister Ben Wallace, who was visiting Finland on Wednesday, pledged Britain’s support in the event of an attack on the Nordic country.
Wallace told reporters, “I can’t imagine a time that we wouldn’t come to support Finland and Sweden, wherever they are with the NATO debate or where they are with the agreements and I think that’s it.” Really binds us.”
“We will do whatever we need to do to support Finland,” the minister said during a visit to Kankanpa in the country’s south-west. He was in Finland to participate in a military exercise called “Arrow 2022”.
According to Finnish media reports, the government’s decision can be taken in the next few days.
The latest polls show that a vast majority of Finnish lawmakers and the public are in favor of joining the Atlantic Coalition, a change in opinion since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Finnish President Saulie Niinisto will announce his personal stance on the issue on 12 May.
Finland was ruled by Russia for 108 years before declaring independence in 1917.
It fought Soviet aggression during World War II, before a peace deal that saw it ceded many border areas to Moscow.
The Nordic nation remained neutral during the Cold War instead of attacking Soviet guarantees.
On the Swedish side, the government and parliament are due to present a review of security policy, including outlook on NATO membership, on 13 May.
Stockholm is also currently consulting with NATO countries, with its foreign ministers traveling to the US and Canada this week.
Experts have warned that Finland and Sweden will be subject to Russian interference because they believe joining NATO should be used as a deterrent against aggression from their eastern neighbour.
Hostile acts such as cyberattacks are also considered probable, according to analysts, who, however, have said that the risk of a military attack is low.
A ministry spokesman told AFP that on Wednesday morning there was a “Mi-17 helicopter” in Russian airspace, which flew about four to five kilometers into Finnish airspace.
It was the second such airspace violation this year, after an incursion by a civilian transport aircraft belonging to the Russian military, which briefly entered Finnish airspace on 8 April.
Four Russian fighter jets violated Swedish airspace in the Baltic Sea near Sweden’s strategically located island of Gotland in early March.
And on Friday a Russian spy plane crossed the Swedish border near a naval base in the south of the country.