Denmark imposes civilian drone ban for security ahead of European Union summit

Denmark has imposed a ban on all civilian drone flights in the midst of violation of Danish airspace by unidentified drones ahead of the European Union summit in Copenhagen, as announced by the Danish transportation ministry.

As reported by the ministry, the decision is made to “simplify security work” and to eliminate the possibility of disruption caused by unidentified foreign drones.

Denmark is one of several European countries that have experienced reported drone incidents and sightings over a Danish military base and civilian airports earlier this week.

Following unfortunate drone incursions, Denmark has geared up security ahead of the EU summit.

“All civilian drones flying in Danish airspace will be prohibited from Monday to Friday to eliminate the risk that enemy drones can be confused with legal drones and vice versa,” a statement read issued by the transportation ministry.

“We cannot accept that foreign drones create uncertainty and disturbances in society, as we have experienced recently. At the same time, Denmark will host EU leaders in the coming week, where we will have extra focus on security,” Danish transportation minister Thomas Danielsen said.

“A violation of the prohibition can result in a fine or imprisonment for up to two years," he added.

However, the ban will not extend to drones employed by state aviation, emergency drones, military drone flight, and health-related drone operations.

The prohibition will remain in place till October 3, 2025.

To counter adversarial drones’ incursions across the Eastern flank, the EU has recently launched a drone wall, aiming to detect and intervene enemy drones.