Although the Yugoslav wars were affecting the Austrian border region less and less, an incident on 25th October 1991 showed that things can change from one moment to the next.
At 0935 radar station Goldhaube spotted several unknown planes over Croatia. One of them suddenly speeded towards Slovenia and further towards Austria, then suddenly vanished off the radar screen as it changed to nap-of-the-earth flight.
The next time the blip became visible again, it was already in the area of Klagenfurt Basin! As Airport Tower Klagenfurt reported it to be a MiG-21, the Austrian airforce dispatched two Saab 105 to chase the intruder.
Meanwhile, the unknown MiG had extended its landing gear and requested clearance to land, hitting the pavement at 0958. Even as it rolled off the taxiway, the two Saabs were still encircling it and confirming it to belong to the Yugoslavian Air Force, tactical number 112. They were also able to identify it as a MiG-21R - an unarmed scout plane. The man leaving the plane turned out to be Captain Rudolf Peresin. He proclaimed that he had no interest to fight his countrymen under the orders of the Yugoslavian People's Army, but that he hadn't come to seek asylum - he had come to be transferred to the liberated parts of Croatia. Four days later, Austria granted his request and sent him to Croatia - without his plane.
The aftermath was also quite tense:
In the weeks following the incident, the plane became a bone of contention among diplomats. With strongly worded letters, Yugoslavia demanded to get its plane back. With similar intensity, Croatia petitioned Austria not to hand the plane over. Within Austria, ÖVP politician Alexander Khol - possibly in ignorance of the nature of the plane - rallied the populace to prevent the plane from throwing bombs at women and children in Croatia, if necessary by creating a human chain on the runway.
This turned out to be an unnecessary plan, as the Austrian government decided to sit a decision out for as long as possible. When Croatia raised the stakes by requesting to get the plane for itself, Vienna saw in it a very welcome opportunity to commission international law treatises, reports and studies, with the job divided under no less than four ministries. Bundeskanzler Franz Vraratzy told in a radio interview a prophetic sentence: "We are Austrians, and therefore we need 'Austrian solutions'." Foreign minister Alois Mock warned that the examination of the situation would take many, many weeks - which turned out to be a massive understatement. By the time the examinations came to a conclusion, the MiG-21R had already been mothballed at the ammunition depot at Großmittel.
Sources:
- http://www.airpower.at/news02/0222_peresin/
- http://www.airpower.at/news02/1022_violations/violations06.htm
Further Reading:
TIL that SAAB Aeroplane and SAAB Automotible were once the same company until the 90's.
Good story, thanks for posting it!