France, Germany and Sweden will send troops and anti-drone systems to Denmark to boost aerial security ahead of European summits to be held in Copenhagen this week. This comes after several drone incursions into Danish airspace, prompting the country to ban civilian drone flights all week.
The Danish authorities ordered a ban on civilian drone flights as of Sunday after drones were observed at several military facilities at the weekend.
The ban, which will be in place all week, is intended to "remove the risk that hostile drones can be confused with legal drones and vice versa," Danish Transportation Minister Thomas Danielsen said in a statement.
A violation could result in a fine or imprisonment for up to two years.
Denmark, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, is preparing to host EU leaders on Wednesday, followed by a summit of the 47-member European Political Community on Thursday.
Denmark has been beefing up security since last week, after unexplained drones disrupted air traffic at six airports.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the drone disruptions "a hybrid attack" on her nation.
Several European countries have said they will help with the effort to curb the threat.
France said Monday it would send a Fennec military helicopter and a team of 35 anti-drone-trained staff, "in response to the recent upsurge in unidentified drone flights in Danish airspace", the defense ministry said in a statement, calling the drones a "serious threat".
Europe on high alert
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that Sweden would send anti-drone systems, and that the country had already shipped radar systems to Denmark.
At Demark’s request, Swedish police said they would send a significant force, which will work alongside Norwegian law enforcement officers.
Germany will deploy around 40 troops with equipment to detect, identify and defend against drones, and a German air defence frigate arrived in Copenhagen on Sunday to assist with airspace surveillance.
Poland calls NATO talks after downing Russian drones in airspace breach
While Frederiksen stopped short of identifying who is behind the attacks, she has suggested it could be Russia, which she described as the primary "country that poses a threat to European security".
The Kremlin denies involvement.
Europeans have been on high alert after a series of drone and aircraft incursions into Polish, Romanian and Estonian airspace in the last two weeks.
Defence ministers from around 10 EU countries agreed Friday to make a so-called "drone wall" a priority for the bloc.
The NATO military alliance on Saturday said it was upgrading its mission in the Baltic Sea in response to the situation in Denmark.
(with Reuters)
