The French military said the drone was spotted seven nautical miles (13km) from the Charles de Gaulle carrier, which has never visited Sweden before and is due to take part in Nato exercises in the region, News.Az reports, citing BBC.
***
Speaking on board the carrier, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the incident was serious but not unexpected. It was very difficult to see as a coincidence, he said, adding that “it is a Russian way of acting that we recognise from other places”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the Swedish claims as “absurd”.
However, Nato allies have for months reported drone sightings close to military sites and airports, including a number of incidents in Denmark and the Baltic states.
An investigation was launched in December after drones flew over the Île Longue naval base, which is home to France’s nuclear ballistic submarines off the Breton town of Brest.
Earlier, Swedish Defence Minister Pal Jonson told public broadcaster SVT there was probably a “strong link” between the drone and a Russian naval vessel in Sweden’s territorial waters in the Oresund Strait, between Sweden and Denmark.
It is not clear what happened to the drone after it had been jammed but Jonson said the Russian ship had sailed on to the Baltic Sea.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who was with the Swedish prime minister on board the aircraft carrier on Friday, praised Stockholm’s handling of the incident.
“If indeed… there is a potential Russian origin for this incident, the only conclusion I would draw is that it would be a ridiculous provocation,” he told reporters.
Both armed forces have played down the drone incident, and French General Staff spokesman Col Guillaume Vernet said it had demonstrated the “robustness” of the Swedish response, adding that it had no impact on the French mission.
