PARIS, Feb 27 (Reuters) – France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Friday Paris had no evidence that Russia was behind an unidentified drone neutralised near the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier docked in Sweden but if that were to be the case it would be a “ridiculous provocation”.
The Swedish military on Wednesday took down a drone of unknown origin detected more than 10 km from the carrier, the French army told Reuters. The carrier group is currently on a mission in the region and docked this week in the city of Malmo.
* Sweden’s Defence Minister Pal Jonson said on ThursdaySwedish airspace had probably been violated by a drone “inconnection with a Russian military ship” in Swedish territorialwaters. * “If indeed, as the (Swedish) defence minister suggested,there is a potential Russian origin for this incident, the onlyconclusion I would draw is that this is a ridiculousprovocation,” Barrot told reporters in Malmo on Friday. * The security of the French battleship was not threatened,he added. * A Swedish Navy ship observed the suspicious drone duringan ongoing maritime patrol on Thursday, Sweden’s armed forcessaid. * Sweden initiated countermeasures to disrupt the drone,which was not recovered, and no further observations have sincebeen made. * The incident is the latest in a flurry of drone activitiesin several European NATO countries that have been linked toMoscow.
(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro, John Irish in Paris, Johan Ahlander in Stockholm and Terje Solsvik in Oslo; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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