Finland has reacted rather relaxed on what appears to be news drawn out of proportions that Russia is planning to change the sea border in the Baltic Sea. While e.g. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius immediately tweeted with calling the news from Moscow a “provocation” and “hybrid warfare”, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said to Finnish journalist that “we always first investigate the facts in detail and then draw conclusions”.
Featured photo: The Russian island of Moshchny in the Baltic Sea,
photographed from a civilian airliner (Photo by MKFI/Public Domain)
The changing of the borders on the sea map by a single country would be a full violation of international law. The Russian Ministry of Defence initially had something on the matter on its website on 22 May, but the document apparently was later withdrawn. Russian news agency Interfax later on Wednesday quoted an Russian official saying that it was merely a proposal to change the coordinates used as a reference for Russia’s territorial waters. The downplay was it concerned the navigation points around e.g. the island in the Baltic Sea that are Russian territory.
Whether it was a deliberate attempt by the Russian leadership to see what the reactions would be, or just a weird mistake blown out of proportions, we shall probably never know. | © 2024 Marcel Burger at Nordicreporter.com