Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Dutch authorities are investigating multiple drone incursions in the south of the country that closed Eindhoven airport for several hours on Saturday.
The incident is the latest in a series of drone incursions that have affected military and civilian infrastructure in EU countries in recent months, including Belgium, Germany, Denmark and Poland, prompting calls for the bloc to develop a “drone wall” to protect the entire continent.
While most incidents are still under investigation, EU and Nato officials have pointed to Russian provocations.
The airspace over Eindhoven airport was closed for several hours on Saturday evening to both military and civilian traffic following multiple drone sightings. A similar incident occurred at nearby Volkel air force base the previous day.
Air traffic in Eindhoven resumed after a few hours.
“The Ministry of Defense has taken measures, but due to security reasons, it cannot yet share more information about the manner in which this was done. Disruption of air traffic with drones is unacceptable. So we are taking action against it,” defence minister Ruben Brekelmans wrote on the social media platform X.
On Friday evening, the Dutch air force opened fire against drones spotted over Volkel, which is home to the Dutch F-35 fleet and hosts a US air force squadron as part of Nato.
“Air Force personnel deployed weapons from the ground to shoot them down. The drones departed and were never recovered,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
EU countries have struggled to respond to hybrid threats such as drones and cyber attacks, in what is seen as an increasing escalatory threat from Russia.
The European Commission has proposed plans for interlinked drone defences across the entire continent’s borders and critical infrastructure, drawing on Ukraine’s experience in battling Russian drone attacks.
Read the full article here
