BERLIN (AP) 鈥 The Danish defense ministry said Saturday that 鈥渄rones have been observed at several of Danish defense facilities鈥 overnight Friday into Saturday. The renewed drone sightings come after there were several drone sightings in the Nordic country earlier this week, with some of them temporarily shutting down Danish airports.
The Danish defense ministry said in a statement that drone activity was noticed at Skrydstrup Air Base and the Jutland Dragoon Regiment.
Several local media reported that one or more drones were also seen near or above the military Karup Air Base, which is Denmark’s biggest military base.
The Defense ministry refused to confirm the sighting at Karup and said later that 鈥渇or reasons of operational security and the ongoing investigation, the Defense Command Denmark does not wish to elaborate further on drone sightings.鈥
Danish public broadcaster DR reported that in Karup, there were drones in the air both inside and outside the fence of the air base at around 8 p.m., quoting Simon Skelkj忙r, the duty manager at the Central and West Jutland Police.
DR said that for a period of time the airspace was closed to civil air traffic, but that did not have much practical significance as there is currently no civil aviation in Karup.
The repeated unexplained drone activity, including over four Danish airports overnight Wednesday into Thursday and , has raised amid
The Copenhagen drones grounded flights in the Danish capital for hours on Monday night,
The goal of the flyovers is to sow fear and division, Danish Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard said Thursday, adding that the country will seek additional ways to neutralize drones, including proposing legislation to allow infrastructure owners to shoot them down.
For the upcoming European Union summit next week, the Danish defense ministry confirmed on X that the country’s government had accepted an offer from Sweden to 鈥渓end Denmark a military anti-drone capability,鈥 without giving further details.
In neighboring Germany, several drones were reported in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, which borders Denmark, from Thursday into Friday night.
The state’s interior minister, Sabine S眉tterlin-Waack, said that 鈥渢he state police are currently significantly stepping up their drone defense measures, also in coordination with other northern German states,鈥 German news agency dpa reported. She did not provide any further details, citing the ongoing investigations.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that in regard to frequent attacks on infrastructure and data networks, 鈥渨e are not at war, but we are no longer living in peace either.鈥 He did not allude to a certain country as the actor behind those attacks.
鈥淒rone flights, espionage, , massive threats to individual public figures, not only in Germany but also in many other European countries. Acts of sabotage on a daily basis. Attempts to paralyze data centers. Cyberattacks,” he added during a speech at the Schwarz Ecosystem Summit in Berlin on Friday, dpa reported.
What became known as the 鈥淭iergarten murder鈥 in Germany refers to the case of , who was convicted of the Aug. 23, 2019, killing of Zelimkhan 鈥淭ornike鈥 Khangoshvili, a 40-year-old Georgian citizen who had fought Russian troops in Chechnya and later claimed asylum in Germany. Krasikov was returned to Russia as part of a between the U.S. and Russia in 2024.
Later on Saturday, Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, the chair of NATO鈥檚 Military Committee, said at a NATO meeting in Riga, Latvia, that 鈥渕ultiple allies, including Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Romania have experienced airspace violation by Russia. These acts are escalatory, reckless and endanger lives.鈥
鈥淩ussia bears full responsibility for these actions,鈥 Dragone said. 鈥淭oday, I express full and unequivocal solidarity with all allies whose airspace has been breached. The alliance鈥檚 response has been robust and will only continue to strengthen,鈥 he said.
鈥淭he immediate priority today is clearly air defense,鈥 the President of Latvia, Edgars Rink膿vi膷s, said. 鈥淩ussia continues a pattern of provocations, most recently recklessly violating the airspace of Poland and Estonia. And here I really want to thank and welcome NATO鈥檚 immediate response commencing Eastern Sentry,” he said in reference to the operation to protect NATO’s eastern flank.
鈥淭his serves as a tangible example of NATO鈥檚 decisive response.鈥
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Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.
