After a series of drone attacks disrupted airport operations and military bases in Denmark, authorities raised alert levels at their highest level in 10 years.
Mette Frederiksen, the Prime Minister, has not named a perpetrator, but has said that these events are similar to hybrid attacks and have been linked to Russia’s larger attempts to destabilize Europe.
Moscow denies any involvement.
Drones repeatedly sighted near critical infrastructure
Late Friday, two or three drones violated Denmark’s airspace at Karup Airport.
TV2 reported that the armed forces had deployed “several capabilities” in order to combat drones. However, further information was not provided.
Karup civilian flights are very limited, so drones were not a problem.
Karup was the result of a number of sightings by drones that occurred earlier in this week.
Copenhagen Airport, the busiest airport in Scandinavia, was forced to close for several hours Monday when large drones violated its airspace.
Five other smaller airports, civilian as well as military, have also been temporarily closed.
Aalborg Airport was closed late on Thursday night, resulting in canceled flights. However, no drones have been confirmed.
The police reported that they received more than 500 calls related to drones in just a 24-hour period. However, many of these were false alarms.
One case involved a drone that was mistakenly identified by the authorities as being a bright-star over Billund Airport. The sheer number of reports indicates a state of high alert.
Security concerns and hybrid attacks
The Prime Minister Frederiksen called the attack “the most severe attack against Danish critical infrastructure” to date and warned citizens that they should be prepared for future hybrid threats such as sabotage and cyberattacks.
Troels Poulsen, the Defense Minister described these incursions by describing them as “hybrid drone attacks.”
These incidents do not only occur in Denmark. This month, Poland, Estonia and Romania also reported violations of airspace, which fuelled suspicions about Russian spying on NATO’s defenses.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Bloomberg TV that this could be an attempt to test the resolve of Western leaders by Vladimir Putin.
Denmark’s officials, while not invoking NATO Article 4 which would have led to coordinated action by allies, consulted with European partners.
Sweden offered anti-drone capability to help strengthen Danish defenses in advance of the Copenhagen summit next week where European leaders are expected to discuss hybrid war and security response.
The stakes are both economic and political
Denmark has recently pledged a $423 million aid package for Kyiv to boost its defense industry.
Copenhagen also bought long-range missiles capable of hitting targets in Russia.
Analysts believe that these actions may have turned Denmark into a target of hybrid retaliation.
The government has been criticized for its handling of these incursions. Questions have also been raised as to why unauthorised drones could operate without being disturbed for so many hours.
Danish Security and Intelligence Service assessed the threat of sabotage and espionage as “high” and noted similarities with hybrid warfare in other parts of Europe.
The authorities are exploring an initiative called “drone walls” with EU partners. This is a project aimed at developing detection and interception systems that will be used along the eastern border of the EU.
The post Denmark faces new drone intrusion at key military base might be updated as more information becomes available
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