Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb said on Saturday that Russia is trying to irritate Finland by its repeated violations of Finnish airspace.

  • Accused Russia, its eastern neighbor, of violating its airspace with state planes three times in less than a week
  • Added it would step up airborne monitoring of flights

Stubb said in a television interview with public broadcaster YLE:

  • “It is a bad message (from Russia). Neighbors do not act like this to each other… It is clear that Russia aims to irritate”
  • “But there is no point in comparing Ukraine and Finland, we have good relationship with Russia”
Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb 31 August 2014

More weekend news re Ukraine:

Polish President Komorowski warns that Putin is trying to build a new Russian empire, choice is “a Cossack Europe or a democratic one”

EU may urgently prepare more options for Russia sanctions

Lithuania’s president Grybauskaite says Russia is at war with Ukraine and so effectively at war with Europe

and Ukrainian Antonov-12 plane crashed on Saturday – 6 Ukrainians and one Russian on board