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European Union defense ministers will hold a virtual meeting on Friday. They plan to discuss how to mount a better defense against the mysterious drones flying over some of their territory. Teri Schultz reports from Copenhagen, where authorities are on high alert.
TERI SCHULTZ: Danish police say they've reinforced both their airports and their land borders as they brace for the possibility of more drone incursions. Authorities can't yet say who's responsible for the rash of drones that have been flying into Danish airspace since Monday night. Media speculation in Denmark that Russia was involved has not been substantiated at this point, and a Kremlin spokesman said the accusations were baseless. But Finn Borch, chief of the Danish security and intelligence service, suggested that flyovers were typical of Russian behavior.
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FINN BORCH: (Speaking Danish).
SCHULTZ: "It's a classic example of a hybrid action directed against a small democratic country like Denmark," he said, adding that the perpetrator wants to create confusion.
Police are asking the public to call them with any sightings of drones after multiple airports, including two used for military purposes, have been closed this week. Authorities say they won't hesitate to keep airspace closed or to shoot down the drones if that's what it takes to keep the population safe. Danish authorities acknowledge they don't yet have the proper equipment to deal with the problem, but say the threat level is rising so fast, they need to get it. That's something a group of European Union defense ministers will discuss Friday in a virtual meeting called specifically to speed up plans to create what's being called a drone wall on Europe's eastern flank, close to the war in Ukraine, where such incidents have been more frequent. European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said the challenges are steep.
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THOMAS REGNIER: One thing that we will have to do is detect these incoming drones. This is not super easy to do. We're not talking about big fighter jets and planes coming in. No, we're talking about the latest technology developments. These drones have to be detected. And then, second track, what will we do to fight back against these drones?
SCHULTZ: Those questions are also being tackled by NATO, which launched a new protection operation for the alliance's eastern-most members after 19 drones flew into Poland earlier this month. But battling drones is a new mission for NATO, one Ian Lesser from the German Marshall Fund says it needs to come to grips with quickly.
IAN LESSER: There's the risk posed by very capable systems, ballistic missiles, manned aircraft and so on, and the risk posed by drones. These may not be existential as a risk, but collectively, it's significant harassment. And NATO has not yet invested in the kinds of technologies at the scale that would be needed to deal with that kind of a threat in a cost-effective way.
SCHULTZ: Nonetheless, NATO chief Mark Rutte assured Denmark it takes the threat very seriously and will work with the government to ensure the safety and security of critical infrastructure. Meanwhile, Denmark's national police chief assured Danes all necessary measures are in place for public safety, telling them they can go to sleep safe tonight.
For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Copenhagen. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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