Suspicious drones over Belgian base. Defence minister: “Hybrid war against Europe”

Brussels – A new victim of suspicious drone overflights, this time in Belgium. The unwelcome drones were seen in the sky by the
Ardennes Hunters, the Belgian military stationed at the Walloon military base
in Marche-en-Famenne. The drones flew in a coordinated manner over the military facility, where, according to the defence minister, Theo Francken, “Critical infrastructure is present.” 

Based on initial reports, it quickly became clear that “it’s not a
few kids having fun flying small drones,” said the minister, adding that
“four or five devices were specifically flying over the base, then
identified by the soldiers on duty.” 

Francken’s interpretation of the incident was immediately clear: “It is an episode of hybrid war used to destabilise Europe.” Belgium already has some countermeasures in place. At next
week’s Council of Ministers meeting, the strengthening of capabilities to deal
with air raids will be demanded. Francken announced his intention to urge the
executive to acquire detection systems and anti-drone weapons as soon as possible. 

The investigation into the episode was opened in the morning. Although, as is
often the case in these circumstances, it will not be easy to identify the
culprit. Belgium knows something about this, as it has not been able to identify
who was behind the similar episode that occurred in the night between 2 and 3
October in the skies over the Elsenborn base. 

Europe has been facing several
incursions for several months now. The overflight of Marche-en-Famenne appears
very similar to those that took place in the skies over Poland, Lituania and Danimarca. In that case, the finger was pointed at Russia,
both because of the territorial proximity and the aircraft used. 

Few details of
the Belgian episode are yet known, but the incursion raises several questions. If in the Eastern European cases it seemed clear that the drones came
from the Russian or Belarusian borders, in the episode of these hours, this
hypothesis is impossible. Moreover, the probability that the drones came from
the sea is equally remote, given that Marche-en-Famenne is located 250 kilometres
from the North Sea. 

Investigations will try to unravel the nature of the
incident. The only thing that is certain is that this time, the unwelcome drones arrived
in the heart of Europe.