Days after Russian bombers twice invaded air space under Portuguese jurisdiction, a Russian research vessel has had to be escorted from waters within Portugal’s exclusive economic zone.
Not only was the incident described variously as “highly unusual” and “provocative”, the Russian ship was thought to be undergoing unauthorised “oceanographic testing”.
The big question now is what exactly were Russians testing? Could the ship have been monitoring Portuguese territorial waters earmarked for oil and gas exploration?
Newspapers reporting on the incident point out that any research by a foreign country within 200 miles of our exclusive economic zone “has first to be authorised by Portuguese authorities”.
This latest incursion by a Russian craft happened 12 nautical miles (22 km) off the Algarve coast and follows a marked escalation of suspicious Russian military activity throughout Europe.
Meantime, the crisis in the Ukraine is escalating, with no let-up in the EU’s trade sanctions imposed against the superpower.
The Russian boat – described as unarmed and carrying a mixed crew of naval personnel and civilians – was intercepted by naval Corvette “Jacinto Cândido” (pictured) based at Portimão.
The Portuguese authorities had been aware of the Russian ship for a number of days, defence minister Aguiar Branco revealed on Wednesday while on an official visit in Lithuania to a Portuguese air force mission leading NATO patrols over the Baltic.
The fact that Aguiar Branco made his comments during the visit “would seem to confirm the linkage to tensions arising from the situation in the Ukraine”, the BBC reported.
These tensions have been described as Europe’s “worst security crisis since the Cold War”, and all countries’ military and naval authorities remain on high alert.
