'Absurd provocation': France responds to drone near Charles de Gaulle carrier
Photo: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot (Getty Images)
A drone spotted near the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in Swedish waters may have been an absurd provocation by Russia, stated French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Le Figaro reports.
"Absurd provocation" in Swedish waters
The incident occurred on Wednesday in the Øresund Strait near the city of Malmö, where the French flagship had docked ahead of NATO exercises.
The Swedish Navy detected and neutralized the drone about 13 kilometers from the ship. France’s top diplomat stressed that the actions of the suspected organizer appeared illogical.
"If, as Sweden’s Defense Minister suggests, this incident was indeed of Russian origin, the only conclusion I can draw is that it was an absurd provocation," Barrot said during a press conference aboard the aircraft carrier.
Security of the aircraft carrier group
Despite the incident, French officials emphasized that the situation remained fully under control and that the drone posed no direct threat to the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
The minister added that the drone had been neutralized far from the Charles de Gaulle and that neither the vessel nor its carrier group had been in any danger.
Swedish authorities, for their part, pointed to a "strong connection" between the drone and a Russian military ship that was in Sweden’s territorial waters at the time of the incident.
The Kremlin has traditionally dismissed such accusations as "absurd."
Russia's drone provocations
This is not the first case of provocations involving Russian drones in Europe.
Earlier, RBC-Ukraine reported that a Russian drone had followed one of the world’s largest aircraft carriers during international exercises.
More recently, a Russian drone entered Romanian territory, causing renewed concern among NATO member states about the security of the Alliance’s borders.
In addition, the issue of unidentified drones is becoming systemic across the EU. In Germany alone, more than 1,000 unidentified drones were recorded over critical infrastructure and military bases within a year.
