Germany’s interior minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Saturday that the threat from drones was “high” and that the country would take measures to defend itself.
Officials in Europe have been on high alert after drone incursions in Denmark shut down air traffic in various parts of the country several times over the past week. Authorities are also investigating sightings in Germany.
“There is a threat that can be classified as high when it comes to drones. It is an abstract threat, but very concrete in individual cases,” Mr Dobrindt told journalists in Berlin.
Among the measures, Germany will look to revise an aviation security law to allow the nation’s armed forces to get involved to possibly shoot down drones, he said.
READ MORE
“It’s about being prepared so that critical infrastructure or large gatherings of people, for example, can be protected,” he said.
Unidentified drones were observed near military installations in Denmark overnight, the country’s armed forces said on Saturday, following several drone incursions near airports and critical infrastructure this week.
“The Danish Defence can confirm that drones were observed at several of the Danish Defence’s locations last night. Several capabilities were deployed,” a spokesperson said in an email to Reuters.
The armed forces did not specify where the drones were observed.
Police said they had observed drones near the Karup airbase in western Denmark, Ritzau News agency reported.
[ Drones at Danish airports part of ‘systematic’ attackOpens in new window ]
Norwegian police said on Saturday they were investigating possible drone sightings near the country’s Ørland air force base in central Norway, the main base for Norway’s F-35 jet fighters.
“The guards at the base made several observations outside the base’s perimeter early on Saturday,” a spokesperson at the Norwegian Armed Forces’ joint headquarters told Reuters.
Copenhagen Airport, the Nordic region’s busiest, closed for several hours late on Monday as several large drones were seen in its airspace. Five smaller airports, both civilian and military, were also shut temporarily in the following days.
Danish authorities have called the incursions hybrid attacks, and prime minister Mette Frederiksen said earlier this week it was “the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date”.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025
