The Government Situation Centre gave a report to the parliamentary Defence Committee
The representatives of the Government Situation Centre were heard at the parliamentary Defence Committee on 5 June 2014 to give a report on how and with what information the Situation Centre informed Finland's state leadership and security officials about the violations of Finnish airspace by Russian aircraft on 20 May 2014.
It is the view of the Prime Minister's Office that the Government Situation Centre acted in line with the obligations, instructions and orders set for the Situation Centre when it provided the messages about the violations to the state leadership and security officials.
In order to clarify the course of events the Prime Minister's Office has made an exceptional decision to publish also the exact times when the Government Situation Centre was in contact with the representatives of defence administration about the violations of airspace and, on the basis of this phone conversation, sent messages to the state leadership and security officials.
Between 20 and 21 May 2014 the Government Operation Centre was contacted once by the Defence Forces Operations Centre about a violation of Finland's airspace. On 20 May at 18.13 the Defence Forces Operations Centre informed the Government Situation Centre that a Russian Tupolev 154 aircraft had violated Finland's airspace south of Porvoo at 17.57. In line with regular instructions and practices the Government Situation Centre provided this information to security officials at 18.33 and to the state leadership at 19.17. The distribution lists of the Government Situation Centre are case-specific and confidential.
The Ministry of Defence issued a press release on 21 May at 8.59 about a violation of Finland's airspace on 20 May at 16.36, allegedly by a Russian aircraft; this is how the Government Situation Centre learned about the incident. The duty officer of the Government Situation Centre contacted the Defence Forces Operations Centre by phone at 11.10 and asked for more information about the alleged violation of airspace. The duty officer then sent a message to security officials at 11.40 and to the state leadership at 14.24.
The stand-by duty officer of the Ministry of Defence contacted the Government Situation Centre at 14.33 and informed them that the message sent to the state leadership contained incorrect information; the route and nationality of the Antonov 26 that had violated Finland's airspace had not been verified by a fighter on an identification mission. The Government Situation Centre sent a correcting message to the state leadership at 14.53 where it was stated that the Russian aircraft which had violated Finland's airspace had not been identified by a fighter. As a result of the telephone conversation between the Government Situation Centre and the Defence Forces Operations Centre, the incorrect information had been included in the message sent to the state leadership. This was a purely human error.
The duty officers who work at the Government Situation Centre have gained work experience in the state administration, the EU administration, military organisations and crisis-management duties. A majority of them have obtained a higher academic degree and some of them have completed post-graduate education.
Together with its cooperation partners, the Government Situation Centre will look into how the forms of communication can be developed and how the information content of the messages sent to the state leadership can be further ensured.
The representatives of the Government Situation Centre will submit a report to the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee at 13.00 on providing information to the state leadership.
Inquiries: Timo Härkönen, Director of Government Security, Prime Minister’s Office, tel. +358 40 717 6000