Mysterious Drone flights in NATO airspace caused alarm in Europe. Here's what we know

Berlin (AP) – The mysterious drone flights over the airspace of member states of the European Union have upset the public and elected officials over the past few weeks. Burglary in the NATO airspace, some of which blamed Russia, reached an unprecedented scale last month. Some European officials have described the incidents as Moscow that tested the response of the NATO, raising questions about how prepared the alliance against Russia is. On September 10, a swarm of Russian drones flew into the airspace of Poland and forced the NATO aircraft to scramble to intercept it and shoot some of the devices. It was the first direct meeting between NATO and Moscow since Russia launched its overall war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Days later, NATO-Jets escorted three Russian war aircraft from Estonia’s airspace. Since then, over -aircraft, military installations and critical infrastructure have occurred, including elsewhere on the continent and have urged the European defense ministers to agree to develop a ‘drone wall’ along their borders to better, detect and intercept drones that violate the airspace of Europe. Russia blamed some of them, but denies that anything was done deliberately or that it played a role. European authorities have not yet released much details about the drone intrusions, and some did not recognize the overflow in public until days later. Other times, the authorities could not confirm a report of an observation. At one point, the Danish authorities were flooded with 500 points of observations over 24 hours – some of which were only stars in the air. Countries are finding out how to respond at the moment, including weighing the authorities to shoot the drones. Here is what we know of some of the recent Drone observations: Germany’s Munich Airport opened again on Saturday morning after the authorities closed it for the second time in less than 24 hours after two extra drone observations. Delays are expected to continue all Saturday and at least 6,500 passengers have been influenced by overnight closure. In Denmark, Drones flew over the airport in Copenhagen on September 22, causing a major disruption in the air traffic in and from the largest airport in Scandinavia. The Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that Russian involvement cannot be excluded, and calls it “the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure so far.” Meanwhile, a report of a drone observation took place the same night at the Oslo Airport in Norway, which forced all traffic to one runway. The authorities investigated whether there was a connection between the two most important airports. Drones also flew across four smaller Danish airports between September 24 and September 25, including two serving as military bases. Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said an ‘professional’ actor is probably behind the ‘systematic flights’. At the same timeframe, several Danish media outlets reported that one or more drones were seen near or above the karup air base, which is the largest military base of Denmark. The Ministry of Defense has refused to confirm the observation at Karup or elsewhere, and said that “for reasons for operational security and the ongoing investigation, the defense assignment Denmark does not want to further expand on drone observations.” In Germany, the authorities are investigating the allegations that unidentified drones may have spied on critical infrastructure in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein. According to a der Spiegel report, several drones were spotted on September 25 over a power station in the capital of Kiel, as well as near a university hospital and a shipyard in the port city. Home Affairs Minister Sabine Sütterlin-Waack told a state parliament committee that flying objects of ‘different types and sizes’ were noticed. Chief prosecutor Stephanie Gropp said an investigation was underway. Der Spiegel said two small drones were seen about the Kiel Factory premises of TKMS, a supplier of maritime defense technologies. Later, a ‘combined drone formation’ was observed over the university hospital and a power plant, and other drone observations were reported on government buildings and the Heide oil refinery in the area, the report states. Further suspicious drones were spotted on a military base in Sanitz, in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state in the east, the weekly reports.