Copenhagen on high alert for the double European summit: six countries send personnel and equipment to protect leaders from drones

Brussels – The “incidents” in the skies over Europe in recent weeks are creating a palpable nervousness among the chancelleries of the Old Continent. And so, in order to protect the two summits scheduled to take place in Copenhagen in the coming days, several countries have sent men, means, and equipment to Denmark to prevent or neutralise potential drone attacks. 

These are not large-scale deployments, but the very fact that some governments have decided to call up contingents to deploy them in defence of the Danish capital speaks volumes about the level of concern caused by the fast escalation of encroachments and violations of the airspace of some EU (and NATO) member states, from Romania to Estonia via Poland and, indeed, Denmark itself.

 European leaders consider them, although they cannot always prove it, to be “provocations” by Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has hinted that she considers the incidents to be actions of a “hybrid war” waged by Moscow against the Alliance, to test its limits, capabilities, and readiness for response. Last Sunday (28 September), the government of the Scandinavian country ordered a flight ban on all civilian drones until the end of the week.

In addition to the national ban, between yesterday and today (30 September), several other states announced that they would support the efforts of Denmark—which holds the rotating presidency of the EU—to ensure the complete safety of the two summits in Copenhagen this week. Tomorrow, there will be an informal European Council meeting, where, in fact, defence and support for Ukraine will be discussed, while on Thursday (2 October) it will be the turn of the seventh meeting of the European Political Community (the last meeting
was held in Tirana last May), where leaders of 47 nations from across the continent are expected to attend. 

Specifically, the French executive announced it will provide 35 members of its specialised staff, a Fennec helicopter and “active drone countermeasures“. From Germany, an air defence frigate has already arrived in the port of Copenhagen, and is expected to be joined by some 40 military personnel. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has pledged “military anti-drone capabilities” and “several powerful radar systems”, as well as police forces (the latter is also the case for Norway). Even Poland will contribute an unspecified number of soldiers, while the United Kingdom has sent Denmark an anti-drone system. NATO itself has confirmed that it will intensify the activities of its mission in the Baltic Sea. 

The incidents of recent weeks, which have also led to the deployment of NATO’s F-35 fighter jets, have accelerated discussions on the creation of a hypothetical “anti-drone wall”, an idea championed above all by European Defence and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius. A high-tech venture for which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has offered to collaborate with Brussels, leveraging the fact that Kyiv has the most advanced drone industry in Europe.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Renew Liberals’ group in the EU Parliament, Valérie Hayer, condemned the Russian actions as “intolerable provocations“, arguing that “freedom must go on the offensive.” European defence must start, she says, with an “enhancement of critical infrastructure to ensure credible deterrence on EU territory.”