Updated

Authorities in Finland say they suspect two Spanish NATO jet fighters briefly violated Finnish airspace while flying over the southern part of the country Tuesday.

The defense ministry said the F-18 Super Hornets, part of NATO's air policing mission in the Baltics, flew into Finnish airspace southwest of Helsinki for under a minute at around 9 a.m.

The aircraft are currently based in NATO's air base in Amari, Estonia.

The international air corridor over the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea is narrow and the Nordic country has experienced several air violations by military and civilian aircraft from neighboring Russia. However, violations by NATO planes are rare over non-alliance member Finland.