Frankfurt, — German interior minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Saturday that the threat from drones was “high” and that the country would take measures to defend itself.
Officials in Europe have been on high alert after drone incursions in Denmark shut down air traffic in various parts of the country several times over the past week. Authorities are also investigating sightings in Germany.
“There is a threat that can be classified as high when it comes to drones. It is an abstract threat, but very concrete in individual cases,” Dobrindt told journalists in Berlin.
Among the measures, Germany will look to revise an aviation security law to allow the nation’s armed forces to get involved to possibly shoot down drones, he said.
“It’s about being prepared so that critical infrastructure or large gatherings of people, for example, can be protected,” he said.
Meanwhile, unidentified drones were observed near military installations in Denmark overnight, the Armed Forces said on Saturday, according to broadcaster DR, after several drone incursions near airports and critical infrastructure this week.
The Armed Forces did not specify where the drones were observed.
Police said they had observed drones near the Karup air base in western Denmark, Ritzau News agency reported.
Copenhagen Airport, the Nordic region’s busiest, closed for several hours late on Monday as several large drones were seen in its airspace. Five smaller airports, both civilian and military, were also shut temporarily in the following days.
Danish authorities have called the incursions hybrid attacks, and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said earlier this week it was “the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date.” Reuters
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