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  • Drones seen over Danish military bases in latest air disruption

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    Drones have been seen near military facilities including Denmark’s largest, following a series of incidents that caused air disruption earlier this week.

    The devices were observed above Karup airbase, among others, forcing it to briefly close its airspace to commercial traffic. Possible sightings were also reported in Germany, Norway and Lithuania.

    It is the latest in a string of suspicious drone activity in Denmark, raising concerns about the nation’s vulnerability to aerial attack and sparking fears of potential Russian involvement.

    Danish authorities said Thursday’s incursions appeared to be a “hybrid attack”, but cautioned that they had no evidence to suggest Moscow was behind it.

    Friday’s incident took place around 20:15 local time (18:15 GMT) and lasted several hours, duty officer Simon Skelsjaer told news agency AFP.

    He said police could not comment on where the drones had come from as they had not shot them down, adding that police were co-operating with the Danish military in their investigation.

    Though civil airspace above the base was briefly closed, it had no impact because no commercial flights were scheduled in the area at the time, Skelsjaer said.

    The Danish Defence Ministry confirmed that drones were sighted near multiple military installations overnight, but did not specify which ones. It said it would not comment further.

    The other military installations have not been named by Danish state media.

    Danish authorities have not speculated as to who might be behind the drone activity.

    Some 3,500 people work at Karup airbase, which is home to all of the Danish Armed Forces’ helicopters, airspace surveillance and parts of the Danish Defence Command.

    The incursions come just days after drones over Danish airports – some of which also housed military facilities – forced airports to shut down and close their airspace.

    Denmark’s Aalborg and Billund airports closed due to drones above the airport on Wednesday night, while three smaller airports reported drone activity but were able to continue operating.

    On Monday, Copenhagen airport closed for several hours after a number of drones were spotted, while possible drone sightings also temporarily shuttered Oslo airport in Norway.

    Germany’s interior ministry said it was investigating after several drones were spotted on Friday over Schleswig-Holstein, the region that borders Jutland, the part of Denmark on the European mainland that is home to Karup airbase and the airports affected by Wednesday’s incursions.

    Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the threat from drones was high and that Germany would discuss the issue with European partners next month.

    Meanwhile, Police in Norway told state media they were investigating possible drone sightings at Orland airbase, to the west of the country, where its F-35 fighter jets are stationed.

    Drone activity also delayed flights on Friday at Vilnius airport in Lithuania, which shares a land border with Russian territory, according to state media.

    There are suspicions that Wednesday’s wave of drone incursions may have been part of a Russian strategy of indirect aggression towards Nato states supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia – though this connection has not been proven.

    The Russian embassy in Copenhagen has denied “absurd speculations” of its involvement in what it described as “staged provocations”.

    Denmark’s defence minister said the “hybrid attack” was the work of a “professional actor” but appeared to have been launched locally.

    A hybrid attack uses a mix of military and non-military tactics and is designed to interfere with a nation’s infrastructure or institutions.

    Russia has been accused of conducting hybrid attacks in the past, and Europe has been on high alert after several Nato member states reported Russian incursions in their airspaces.

    Estonia and Poland requested a consultation with other Nato members last week, after around 20 Russian drones crossed into Poland and Russian MiG31 jets entered Estonian airspace in separate incidents.

    Romania, another Nato member, also said a Russian drone had breached its airspace.

    Russia did not comment on the incident in Romania, but it denied violating Estonia’s airspace and it said the Polish incursion was not deliberate.

    After Monday’s incident in Copenhagen, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Russian involvement could not be ruled out.

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has called the allegations “unfounded”.

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  • Danish airport closes again after suspected new drone sighting

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    A sighting of a suspected drone briefly shuttered a Danish airport on Friday for the second time in a few hours, after the country’s prime minister said the flights were part of “hybrid attacks” that may be linked to Russia.

    Drones have been seen flying over several Danish airports since Wednesday, causing one of them to close for hours, after a sighting earlier this week prompted Copenhagen airport to shut down.

    That followed a similar incident in Norway, drone incursions in Polish and Romanian territory and the violation of Estonian airspace by Russian fighter jets, which raised tensions in light of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

    “Over recent days, Denmark has been the victim of hybrid attacks,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a video message on social media on Thursday — referring to a form of unconventional warfare.

    She warned that such drone flights “could multiply”.

    Investigators said they had so far failed to identify those responsible, but Frederiksen stressed: “There is one main country that poses a threat to Europe’s security, and it is Russia.”

    Moscow said Thursday it “firmly rejects” any suggestion that it was involved in the Danish incidents. Its embassy in Copenhagen called them “a staged provocation”, in a post on social media.

    Denmark’s Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard earlier said the aim of the attack was “to spread fear, create division and frighten us”.

    He added that Copenhagen would acquire new enhanced capabilities to “detect” and “neutralise drones”.

    Denmark will on Friday join other EU countries, mostly along the eastern border with Russia, in the first talks on proposals to build a “wall” of anti-drone defences in the face of the tensions with Moscow.

    – Russia sabotage warning –

    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, was initially shut down for several hours, and closed again for about an hour from late Thursday into early Friday morning due to another suspected sighting.

    “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 initial Aalborg incident.

    The head of Denmark’s military intelligence, Thomas Ahrenkiel, told a news conference the service had not been able to identify who was behind the drones.

    But intelligence chief Finn Borch said: “The risk of Russian sabotage in Denmark is high.”

    Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told a news conference the flights appeared to be “the work of a professional actor… such a systematic operation in so many locations at virtually the same time”.

    He said it had posed “no direct military threat” to Denmark.

    Frederiksen said Thursday that she had spoken with NATO chief Mark Rutte about the incidents.

    Lund Poulsen said the government had yet to decide whether to invoke NATO’s Article 4, under which any member state can call urgent talks when it feels its “territorial integrity, political independence or security” are at risk.

    French President Emmanuel Macron said his country stood ready “to contribute to the security of Danish airspace”.

    Copenhagen is set to host a summit of European Union leaders next week.

    – ‘Feel rather insecure’ –

    Police said investigations were under way with the Danish intelligence service and the armed forces.

    The drone activity shook some in Denmark, including 85-year-old Birgit Larsen.

    “I feel rather insecure. I live in a country where there has been peace since 1945. I am not really used to thinking about war,” she told AFP in central Copenhagen.

    Others were less concerned.

    “It’s probably Russia, you know, testing the borders of Europe. They fly close to the borders and stuff and try to provoke, but not threaten,” said 48-year-old Torsten Froling.

    The drone flights came after Denmark announced it would acquire long-range precision weapons for the first time, as Russia would pose a threat “for years to come”.

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