Denmark has banned all civilian drone flights this week ahead of a European Union summit in Copenhagen.
According to the Transport Ministry, the decision was made in order to simplify security work for the police. The ban will remain in place till the 3rd of next month, and violations could result in a fine or imprisonment for up to two years.
Denmark is one of several European countries that have reported drone incidents in recent weeks, with drones sighted above Danish military sites recently.
Defence Ministers from 10 European countries have agreed to create a drone wall in response to the drone sightings. NATO said that it has enhanced vigilance across the Baltic.
Denmark currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. Unidentified drones have been reported in Denmark since the 22nd of this month, when sightings forced the closure of Copenhagen and Oslo airports.
Denmark was one of several European countries that reported unidentified drone sightings over the past week, which prompted airport closures and widespread travel disruption.
The sightings — which officials have attributed to unnamed foreign actors — rattled Europe, already on high alert because of recent incursions by Russian aircraft in the airspace of Poland, Estonia and Romania.
Denmark’s transport minister, Thomas Danielson, cited the sightings in announcing that his country’s airspace would be closed to civilian drones from Monday to Friday to ensure “extra focus on safety” around the summit.
European leaders will be meeting in Copenhagen on Wednesday and Thursday for the summit, which was organized after the Russian airspace incursions, to discuss strengthening military readiness and reinforcing support for Ukraine.
Mr. Danielsen said in a statement on Sunday that banning civilian drones — which can include hobbyists or commercial users, such as surveyors — would ensure that any hostile drones were not confused with legal ones, and vice versa.
“The purpose of the ban on civilian drone flights is, among other things, to simplify security work for the police,” Peter Hummelgaard, the Danish justice minister, said in the same statement, which noted that violators of the ban could face fines or up to two years in prison.
Other European countries have also offered support to help secure the summit.
The French defense ministry said on Monday that it would temporarily deploy troops with “active anti-drone capabilities” to Denmark before the summit, illustrating “European solidarity in defense against a serious threat.”
Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said on X that his country had lent Denmark powerful radar systems and tasked the military with helping to provide anti-drone capabilities in connection with the summit.
Denmark has not named the actor it believes to be behind the drone flights, which Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the “most serious attack so far” on his country’s critical infrastructure.
