‘Professional actor’ behind attacks that closed Danish airports, defence minister says | Denmark

Denmark’s defence minister says the country has been the victim of a professional hybrid attack after drones flew over four airports overnight in the second such incursion in a matter of days.

The drone sightings began shortly before 10pm on Wednesday and ended just before 1am on Thursday. Flights were halted for several hours at Aalborg airport, which also serves as a military base, and airports in Esbjerg, Sønderborg and Skrydstrup also were affected. Skrydstrup is home to some of the Danish military’s fighter jets.

On Monday night Copenhagen airport was forced to close as a result of the presence of three drones.

“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, the defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, said at a press conference. “This is what I would define as a hybrid attack using different types of drones.

“This is an arms race against time because technology is constantly evolving,” he added.

He said Denmark was considering activating Nato’s article 4, for the first time in Danish history, but a decision had not yet been made. Denmark contacted Nato on Thursday morning, he said, adding: “In addition to article 4, there are other things that can be done through Nato.”

Poulsen said that although the Danish armed forces have “a number of capabilities”, they would like to have more. The government has come under criticism in recent days for not shooting down the drones.

Denmark’s minister of justice, Peter Hummelgaard, said the goal of the flyovers was to sow fear and division and that the country would seek additional ways to neutralise drones, including proposing legislation to allow infrastructure owners to shoot them down. He said Copenhagen was “not ruling out anything in terms of who is behind this”.

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

“The threat from hybrid attacks is here to stay,” said Hummelgaard, describing recent events as “deeply worrying incidents across Europe”.

A joint EU meeting has been called on Friday to discuss Europe’s drone defence and the establishment of a “drone wall”.

Danish police said the sightings on Wednesday night followed a similar pattern to the ones that shut down Copenhagen airport on Monday.

According to North Jutland police, “more than one drone” was seen near Aalborg airport flying with lights on. The first was seen at about 9.44pm local time and drones were still in the airspace after midnight.

Esbjerg, Sønderborg and Skrydstrup airports remained open despite the drone sightings.

The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said the drone incursion that shut down Copenhagen airport for several hours was the “most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date”.

Authorities are still investigating who was behind the flyover, but Frederiksen said she could not rule out Russia. Moscow has denied any involvement.