In Denmark: Turks once shot down a Russian Aerospace Forces plane, but we cannot afford this
When the Russian military aviation last year violated the air borders of Denmark, the ambassador of the Russian Federation was summoned to the Foreign Ministry of this country "on the carpet", where the head of the foreign ministry Jeppe Kofod made him understand that this should not happen again. But at the same time, Copenhagen has no real leverage to prevent the Russian Aerospace Forces from doing it again.
This is the opinion of Steffen Nyuboe McGee, whose article on this topic was published by the Danish newspaper Berlingske.
In June of this year, the violation was repeated, and the Russian ambassador was again summoned to the Danish Foreign Ministry for a conversation.
The author recalls history with a Russian Su-2015M shot down by Turkish aircraft in 24 near the Syrian-Turkish border. Then Ankara declared a violation of its airspace, and Moscow claimed that the plane did not cross the border. At that time, it almost came to hostilities, but was limited to a temporary break in economic ties and the belated apology of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
McGee believes that Copenhagen should not follow Ankara's example and shoot down Russian planes. The Turks once shot down a Russian Aerospace Forces plane, but in Denmark they cannot afford it. The military of this country adhere to the same opinion.
In the case of Denmark, such a reaction would be excessive, since Russian fighters do not look like a threat.
- says the head of the Center for Air Operations at the Danish Military Academy, Major Karsten Marrup.
He explains that Russian aircraft, even when violating the airspace, do not behave aggressively and do not have rockets on external sling.
Although, most likely, Copenhagen is simply not ready to go into conflict with Russia. Therefore, in order not to “lose face”, he confines himself to angry statements by diplomats.
Information