Beyond Copenhagen: Drone Sightings in Denmark Threaten to Expose Europe's Vulnerability to Hybrid Attacks
Over the past three weeks, unmanned aircraft observations were reported in over eight European nations, showcasing a much larger issue that Europe must address while the war between Russia and Ukraine continues. Of all the nations that reported these drones, Denmark stands out due to its strong response and its role in hosting the upcoming EU summit on October 2nd. By outlining the incident and the responses by NATO and Denmark specifically, a more comprehensive understanding of how Europe should approach the defense of its civil-military airspace will be discussed.
From September 22 to September 28, a series of unmanned aircraft observations were reported over Danish and Norwegian civilian airports and military installations. A four-hour suspension of flights occurred at the Copenhagen Airport on the 22nd of September after two to three drones were spotted in the airspace. The Oslo airport was also forced to close for three hours on the same night as the incident in Copenhagen due to the sighting of drones. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen described the incident as a “serious attack on critical Danish infrastructure.” It was classified as a hybrid attack by Denmark's defense minister. Fredericksen said that although authorities cannot conclude who is behind the drone sightings, “we can at least conclude that there is primarily one country that poses a threat to Europe’s security – and that is Russia.” Yet, Russia has denied involvement in the drone sightings.
While tracing possible motives by Russia to enter Danish airspace, it must be noted that on Wednesday, September 24, Denmark said it would acquire 'long-range precision weapons’ in case it needed to deter Russia, which provoked a strong reaction from Moscow. The Russian ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, said that this was considered a threatening nuclear power publicity and would be taken into account. Aside from this interaction, Russia could also be trying to test the waters of expanding its war further into Europe. Starting with cheaply made small drones, they can gradually move into European airspace, as seen in incidents such as the one in Denmark, to normalize this behavior and have others deem it as background noise, rather than taking it seriously.
NATO responded rapidly and in a unified manner to these sightings. The day after they were spotted, FSG Hamburg, a German air defense frigate, arrived in Copenhagen to aid airspace surveillance ahead of the EU summit. Ukrainian military personnel traveled to Denmark to support their response to the unidentified drones. Defense ministers from ten EU countries have agreed to create a 'done wall', after the reports in Denmark. Specifically, France and Sweden said they will provide Denmark with ‘military anti-drone capabilities’ at the summit. Denmark specifically responded to these sightings on September 29th, banning all civilian drone flights ahead of a European Union summit in Copenhagen. The ban will remain in place until October 3rd.
These sightings have a significant impact on Europe and the upcoming conference. The key aspect to consider is how Europe should respond; remaining unfazed and firm is essential when it appears that Russia is testing Europe to see how it will react to an increasing presence beyond Ukraine. It is clear that Europe’s civil-military airspace is vulnerable through the incident in Denmark and many other European nations, such as 20 Russian drones that crossed into Poland and the Russian MiG-31 jets that entered Estonian airspace in September. Creating a layered drone defense system is at the top of Europe's priorities, but will the continent stay unified, and how will it approach this system in a time of unprecedented military technology development?
Image courtesy of Emil Helms via Reuters, ©2025. Some rights reserved.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the wider St. Andrews Foreign Affairs Review team.
