A panel reading “Drone Flying Interdited” is represented in Halsskov, West Zealand, Denmark. Denmark prohibited all civilian drone flights across the country while Copenhagen organized a European summit, after mysterious drone observations across the country began in September.
Mads Claus Rasmussen / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP via Getty Images
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Copenhagen, Denmark – Trine, hotel receptionist in the Danish capital, had trouble sleeping recently. It is too nervous about the disturbing noise of unidentified drones hovering overnight.
“I live very close to the airport, so every night, these helicopters and stuff move and around it,” she said, making a swirling sound. “I really need to sleep.”
It is not the only one whose nerves have been effiled in Denmark.
Danish Prime Minister puts Frederiksen said that a “hybrid war” in Europe is underway, describing it as “the most difficult and dangerous situation since the end of the Second World War”.
The government has not officially identified that organized drone flights, but Prime Minister Frederiksen said: “There is only one country ready to threaten us and it is Russia, and therefore we need a very strong response.”
Friday, the Danish Defense Intelligence Service said that Russia was pressure on Denmark with “hybrid war“That the agency has defined as a combination of political, economic, information and military means” undermined a state while remaining below the threshold of armed conflict “.
The United States and other NATO countries have precipitated the military, the police and the technical resources in Denmark this week to protect high-level meetings of European leaders in Copenhagen. Authorities judged that unidentified drones entering Denmark airspace were a serious security risk.
Denmark Prime Minister puts Frederiksen (right), and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy attend a press conference at the top of the European political community in Copenhagen, Denmark.
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After 3 1/2 years of Large -scale invasion of Ukraine RussiaEuropean countries like this – donors and military suppliers of kyiv – are nervous that the Kremlin could make the conflict. Denmark, a member of NATO and the European Union with around 6 million people, is on alert after the recent incursions of airspace.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused the plans To invade NATO countries. Speaking Thursday in Sochi, Putin accused Europe of “whisking hysteria” about a “Russian threat”.
But that, the Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard warned against national television, is the “new reality” of Denmark.
The Danes are very worried
“Everyone talks about it,” said Trine about drones, adding that his family is “very, very worried”.
NPR has agreed not to use the family names of some of the interviewees in this story, due to panic around this security problem.
Trine says that being nervous made him take stock of his family’s emergency plans. “We have prepared ourselves, we have prepared,” she explained, checking their food supply, swinging on the water and examining their plan with other family members in case they have to evacuate their house in Copenhagen.
A sniper is seen on a roof while the police secure the place of a meeting of the leaders of the European Union at the Palais de Christiansborg in Copenhagen, Denmark on Wednesday.
Emil Nicolai Helms / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP via Getty Images
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Emil Nicolai Helms / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP via Getty Images
For the Trine family – which includes a “big bulldog that cannot run,” she notes – the plan would be to regroup with her father “far, far in the country”. She says: “It’s a big house”, with “room for everyone, me and my family, my brother and her family and my mother and everyone and animals too.”
She says she heard friends who have more elaborate plans, who even include leaving the Denmark if necessary.
Storage for an emergency
Like other Nordic governments, Denmark has long urged citizens to store enough supplies to survive at least three days without access to electricity, food or freshwater. Without the feeling of a direct threat, many people were complacent about it.
But that has changed. Since drones appeared for the first time on September 22, the guidelines were widely discussed in the media, as well as attempts to avoid panic. The residents seemed to take them more seriously than before, with titles on the races on canned fish and radios powered by battery.
The Danish newspaper with the big titles said “F-35 Aircraft Ready to Strike” and “Easy Prey for Putin”, September 27.
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Teri Schultz for NPR
In a store of domestic items in a suburb of Copenhagen, Peter Sandell, sales associate, says that 20 -liter water containers are a hot article. “This morning, we had this, this, this and this full,” he said, making a gesture to a high level of the shoulder where the plastic jugs had been stacked a few hours earlier.
Nearby, the shelf for camping stoves is empty. Alejandra and Alexander, a couple who also want to be identified only by first names, hung the last. Alejandra’s arms are full of fuel cans.
She says that they did not necessarily intend to buy one that day, but they then saw people get out of the store with them and thought impulsively: “Ok, let’s buy it (from Y) in case.”
The couple explains that they had filled with items like water before, but drone incidents encouraged them to stop the emergency list.
Make sure the shelters are ready
Danish authorities have a catch -up to do too, explains Jakob Hallgren, a former Swedish ambassador who is director of the Swedish Institute for International Affairs.
Sweden also crossed a period like this shortly after the start of the Russian large-scale war against Ukraine in 2022, Hallgren explains. But the country then reassessed the risk of being so close to the front line and invested a lot in things such as the renovation and enlargement of its Bomb shelter network.
Hallgren advises that the Danish government does the same. “Living in Denmark, you might have – just like perhaps in Sweden until a few years ago – in a way thought that you were protected from these developments,” he said. “But this is obviously no more. So, if they have not done so, it is very time to ensure that these shelters are repaired and that there is appropriate information on where you can find them.”
Down with drones
Many Danes are disappointed that the government has not given the order to shoot drones. Trine says she would be happy to help, saying that she joked her police husband that she would like to take one of her weapons.
“He looked at me, (like)” are you kidding? “” She laughs. “And then my daughter – she is 20 years old – she said” Aw, come on, Dad gives her a bazooka. “”
Trine underlines that even if she jokes to take matters in hand, she certainly hopes that the Danish government shooting the drones if they again disturb the Danish sky.