Several European Union defense ministers are urgently holding talks on a "drone wall" after Russian drones allegedly violated Polish and Romanian airspace this month, and unauthorized drone incursions forced intermittent shutdowns at Danish and Norwegian airports.
The September 26 video conference -- convened by EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius and involving several states on NATO's eastern flank, as well as Denmark and Ukraine -- aims to coordinate sensors, jammers and rapid-response rules so that small, cheap unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be detected and neutralized before they threaten European civil aviation or critical bases.
The ministers are expected to look at the infrastructure and funding needed for a coordinated and effective defense system against drones after a number of high-profile incidents involving UAVs in recent weeks.
On September 9–10, about 20 Russian drones reportedly crossed into Polish airspace during strikes on Ukraine, prompting airport closures and NATO aircraft scrambles.
Days later, Romania reported a similar incursion near the Danube delta.
On September 22, drones forced hours-long closures at Copenhagen Airport and also briefly shut Oslo’s main aviation hub. More sightings later disrupted airports in the Danish cities of Aalborg and Billund and appeared near military sites.
Eyewitnesses described UAVs with green blinking lights and authorities called the activity "hybrid" in nature, saying it appeared coordinated, though they have not officially named a perpetrator.
Western officials, however, believe Moscow is behind the pattern, describing it as a form of “gray-zone” or hybrid warfare. By deploying cheap drones to harass airports and airbases, Russia can impose costly defensive responses, unsettle civilians, and probe defense vulnerabilities -- all without triggering open conflict.
Danish and regional media reported that a Russian Ropucha-class landing ship, the Aleksandr Shabalin, was filmed by helicopter loitering roughly 12 kilometers off the Danish island of Langeland during the wave of Scandinavian drone sightings. The ship reportedly had its transponder off.
Officials have not publicly tied the vessel to the incursions, but the timing and proximity have sharpened suspicion that some launches could be sea-based.
Russia has denied any involvement.
Experts say that Europe's civil–military airspace is a vulnerable underbelly.
Consumer-grade or custom UAVs can be flown from land or sea just outside protected zones, briefly dipping into airport approach corridors or skimming over bases to create outsized disruption: diversions, delays, and security scares, even without explosives.
