Denmark claims there is a 'professional actor' behind drone overflights at its airports

(AFP) A new deployment of drones of unknown origin flew over civilian and military airports in Denmark for the second night in a row, in an operation the Defense Ministry claimed Thursday are "systematic" and caused by a "professional actor."

The aircraft were spotted over air terminals in Aalborg (north), Esbjerg (west), Sonderborg (south) and Skrydstrup military air base (south) before flying away on their own, police said.

By Monday night, other unidentified drones had already been spotted over the airport in the capital Copenhagen, as well as Oslo airport in neighboring Norway, forcing air traffic to be blocked for several hours.

These incidents follow the incursion of Russian drones into Poland and Romania and of Russian fighter jets into Estonian airspace, although Danish and European authorities have not established any link between these incidents for the time being.

Last weekend, other European airports, notably Brussels, London, Berlin and Dublin, were affected by a cyber-attack whose origin has not been disclosed.

"There is no doubt that everything points to it being the work of a professional actor, when we are talking about such a systematic operation in so many places and practically at the same time," Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told a news conference.

"The aim of these kinds of hybrid attacks is to spread fear, to create division and to scare us," Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard added.

Detection tools

The Danish government, which insists on the absence of a "direct military threat," also announced the acquisition of new "drone detection and neutralization" tools.

The Scandinavian country, a member of NATO, will host next week the heads of state and government of the European Union countries at a summit in Copenhagen.

During the recent overflights, Aalborg airport, in northern Denmark and one of the country's largest, was temporarily closed, before reopening several hours later.

After an "overall assessment of the situation," the police and military decided not to shoot down the drones, primarily for the safety of civilians, Army Chief of Staff Michael Hyldgaard told a news conference.

"Nor were the operators" of the drones detained, local police explained earlier. That force added that the drones "flew with lights and were seen from the ground," but that it was not possible to determine the type of device or the reason for the flyover.

Esbjerg and Sonderborg Airports did not suspend operations because they had no flights scheduled at that time.