Copenhagen, Sep 25 (IANS) Denmark has contacted the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the European Union (EU) after shutting Aalborg airport and placing three others airports on alert on Thursday following the unauthorised drones carrying out what the authorities termed as coordinated attacks.
While addressing a press conference on Thursday, Danish Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said that the country was deliberating on whether to trigger the alliance’s Article 4, in what it termed a hybrid attack that involved a “systematic approach” in flying the drones near critical infrastructure, Euro News reported.
Authorities stated that they have given authorisation to shoot down the drones in case it happens in future. “We are going to find the people who are behind this. We have various military capabilities that can help defend Denmark, F-35 and our frigates,” said Poulsen.
The Deputy PM said that Denmark does not have tools required to address the threat that is “here to stay” and does not possess ground-based air defence system, which the government decided to buy this month. He mentioned that it would still not be fully effective in combating the type of drone detected above Denmark on Thursday.
Poulsen said, “There is no single capacity that will make this go away.” He noted that Denmark needs to have various tools to fight what comes its way whether its drones or missiles. Aalborg, Esbjerg, Sonderborg and Skrydstrup airports were impacted overnight on Thursday.
Denmark police said the Aalborg airport was shut. As per the reports, the drones disrupting operations of the airport left the area after about three hours. In a statement, the North Jutland Police said that they were closely monitoring the situation at Aalborg, however, it did not reveal the details about the number of drones involved in the incident.
Earlier also, drone incursion were reported in Denmark that officials suspect may involve Russian interference. On Monday, the Copenhagen airport was affected by a similar incident. Authorities said the drones at Aalborg followed a similar pattern to the ones that paused operations at Copenhagen. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had described the drone attack as the “most serious yet on Denmark’s infrastructure.”
Norwegian authorities also closed the airspace at Oslo airport for three hours on Monday due to possible danger from unauthorised drone activity, Euro News reported. On Wednesday, Norway’s Foreign Minister said that authorities of Denmark and Norway are working together on the incidents that occurred in Copenhagen and Oslo, however, their probe has not yet established a connection.
–IANS
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