Denmark Alerts NATO After Mystery Drone Incursions Disrupt Airports

European countries have over the last several weeks been growing more vocal over alleged Russian-backed ‘hybrid attacks’ on their infrastructure, and the latest focal points have been airports.

Denmark now says its airports are under threat from mysterious unauthorized drones, and was forced to close Aalborg airport – one of the nation’s largest – for several hours Wednesday evening. The international airport is located in the northern Jutland region and facilitates commercial and at times military flights.

This comes after on Monday Copenhagen airport was temporarily closed due to a drone incursion. Danish authorities say they can’t rule out a prank, but have pointed to professional actors being behind the incidents. “Aalborg, Esbjerg, Sonderborg and Skrydstrup airports were all affected overnight on Thursday,” European sources indicate.

There were additional UAV sightings near military bases, in a series of incidents which took place between 10pm on Wednesday and about 1am on Thursday:

The Danish military said it had seen drones at “several military installations” – including Skrydstrup airbase and the The Jutland Dragoon Regiment barracks in Holstebro, warning it may “take down” drones at military sites.

Police in Denmark and in Sweden said they were investigating multiple reports of drone sightings – including over Danish oilfields and in Stockholm.

Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen in a Thursday news briefing used the words “hybrid attack” that appears part of a “systematic operation” – but also disclosed that the drones were deployed locally.

The goal is to supposedly sow fear and division, again suggesting Danish authorities believe external state actors are behind the incidents:

“There can be no doubt that everything points to this being the work of a professional actor when we are talking about such a systematic operation in so many locations at virtually the same time. This is what I would define as a hybrid attack using different types of drones.”

Three smaller airports this week also had drone sightings which were monitored, but these incidents didn’t result in any closures or flight stoppages.

NATO countries have been in a heightened state of alert after last week’s Russian drone and jet incursion incidents in Poland, Romania, and Estonia. 

Denmark could simply be hyping this week’s occurrences near airports to shine a further spotlight on Russia, given nothing definitive has been established – and it is not entirely unusual for some individual’s hobby drone to get too close to an operating airport.

EuroNews reports that Denmark is even raising the issue with NATO:

Denmark has reached out to NATO and the EU after it was forced to close Aalborg airport and placed three other airports on alert on Thursday as unauthorized drones conducted what authorities described as coordinated attacks.

Copenhagen was considering whether to trigger the alliance’s Article 4, in what was a hybrid attack involving a “systematic approach” in flying the drones near critical infrastructure, Danish Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said at a press conference on Thursday.

Authorization was given to shoot down the drones in case of future incidents, authorities said.

Drones reportedly circle over Denmark near F-16 and F-35 bases as authorities consider state of emergency — prepping for a false flag? pic.twitter.com/TIHkQDuZFx

— Jungle Journey (@JnglJourney) September 25, 2025

“We are going to find the people who are behind this,” Poulsen said. “We need to have a wide range of tools to combat what comes our way, whether it’s missiles or drones.”

So clearly this is being seized upon to call for greater defense preparedness and investment, and to get the population ready to ‘confront’ Russia – despite the mystery drone incidents still not being solved.