Finland discusses GPS incident with Russia, says ministry

HELSINKI -- Finnish authorities are continuing to investigate the GPS signal disruption that occurred in northern Finland during a recent NATO military maneuver in the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs said that Finland is "discussing the issue with Russia through diplomatic channels". The ministry said that Finland's view is that "such measures" must not endanger air traffic, for example.

Following statements by leading Finnish politicians about alleged Russian role in the GPS problem, Russia on Monday issued a denial. "We know nothing about Russia's possible involvement in such GPS failures," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by news agency TASS as saying. "There is a trend to blame all mortal sins on Russia," he said.

In its statement on Thursday, the Finnish ministry said it would not be appropriate to release details on the matter to the public. It added that Finland considers Norway's findings on the signal disruption to be reliable.

The Finnish parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee has been given a report on the issue. Matti Vanhanen, chairman of the committee, told media earlier the committee wanted an explanation. Vanhanen had also equaled such disturbances to border violations that under current Finnish policies are given immediate publicity.

The ministry's public statement on Thursday was scantier than what is the usual practice in reports about border violations by the Frontier Guards.

While no hazards to air traffic have been reported in Finland on account of the GPS problem, reindeer herders in Finnish Lapland area told Yle on Thursday they had difficulty in locating their animals.

The reindeer have GPS-based gadgets attached to them and following the disruption wrong locations were transmitted. A reindeer herder who appeared on the Sami language news of the Finnish public TV played down the incident though and said the routes the reindeer follow at this time of the year are traditional knowledge.