Berliner Tageblatt - Denmark says 'professional actor' behind drone flights over airports

Police said early Thursday that drones flew over several airports across the country and caused one of them to close for hours, after a similar incident early this week prompted Copenhagen airport to shut down.

"There can be no doubt that everything points to this being the work of a professional actor when we are talking about such a systematic operation in so many locations at virtually the same time," Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told a press conference.

He termed it a "hybrid attack" but underscored there was "no direct military threat" to Denmark.

The drone flights follow similar incidents in Poland and Romania and the violation of Estonian airspace by Russian fighter jets, which have raised tensions in light of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said Denmark would acquire new enhanced capabilities to "detect" and to "neutralise drones".

"The aim of this type of hybrid attack is to spread fear, create division and frighten us," Hummelgaard said.

He said Copenhagen was currently "not ruling out anything in terms of who is behind this."

NATO member Denmark is set to host next week's European Union summit in Copenhagen, which will be attended by heads of state and government.

Drones were spotted on Wednesday and early Thursday at airports in Aalborg, Esbjerg, Sonderborg and at the Skrydstrup air base before leaving on their own, police said.

Aalborg airport, located in northern Denmark and one of the country's biggest after Copenhagen, was shut down before reopening several hours later.

"It was not possible to take down the drones, which flew over a very large area over a couple of hours," North Jutland chief police inspector Jesper Bojgaard Madsen said about the incident in Aalborg.

"At this time, we have not apprehended the drone operators either," he added in a statement.

- 'Serious attack': PM -

South Jutland police said they had "received several reports of drone activity at the airports in Esbjerg, Sonderborg and Skrydstrup", late Wednesday evening.

The Esbjerg and Sonderborg airports were not closed because no flights were scheduled there until Thursday morning.

Police there said the drones "flew with lights and were observed from the ground, but it has not yet been clarified what type of drones they are... or what the motive is."

An investigation was underway with the Danish intelligence service and the armed forces to "clarify the circumstances", police said.

The probe comes days after police said several large drones flew over Copenhagen airport on Monday, shutting the facility for hours.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Tuesday described the Copenhagen incident as the "most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure" to date.

"This is part of the development we have recently observed with other drone attacks, airspace violations, and cyberattacks targeting European airports," Frederiksen said.

Moscow has denied involvement and rejected accusations from the governments of Poland, Estonia and Romania over drones or airspace violations by fighter jets.

This week's drone flights came after Denmark announced it will acquire long-range precision weapons for the first time, citing the need to be able to hit distant targets as Russia would pose a threat "for years to come".

Moscow's ambassador to Copenhagen, Vladimir Barbin, had called the statement "pure madness".

N.Fournier--BTB