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The European air defences are put to the test by Russia's suspected "hybrid warfare"

Since September, Russia's drone incursions into European NATO countries and violations of airspace have increased. In that month, more than 20 Russian drones invaded Polish airspace while three Russian military jets violated Estonian airspace for twelve minutes.

Since then, drones, whose origin is mostly unknown, have disrupted the airspace operations across Europe.

While she did not say that Russia was behind all of the incidents, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission called them "hybrid war". She also said it was obvious Russia's goal was to "sow divisiveness" in Europe.

Here are the most notable airspace violations reported this year.

BELGIUM

After drones were spotted on Tuesday night, the airports of Brussels and Liege were closed. Many incoming flights were diverted and others were prevented from taking off. Brussels Airport reopened on Wednesday morning, though some flights had been cancelled or delayed.

Theo Francken, Belgian Minister of Defence, said that the police were investigating sightings of drones above Kleine Brogel Air Base in North-East Belgium.

Last week, the country launched an investigation after two drones were seen flying over a base in the south-east of the country. A second inquiry was opened last month, after multiple drones flew over Elsenborn near the German border.

CZECH REPUBLIC

According to the Institute for the Study of War, the Czech army reported on 10 September that it detected an increasing number of drones unidentified flying over its military installations.

DENMARK

In September, drones disrupted the air traffic in six Danish airports, including Copenhagen, which is the busiest airport in the Nordic region. Prime Minister Mette Fredericksen described it as a hybrid assault on her country.

ESTONIA

On September 19, three Russian military jets violated the airspace of NATO member Estonia for 12 minutes before NATO Italian fighter planes cleared them out.

GERMANY

Local media reported that the Berlin and Bremen airports were briefly closed over the weekend following two separate drone sightings.

Bild newspaper reported that drones had been spotted in Germany at airports and military bases earlier in October. The report suggested that sightings on the 3rd of October at Munich Airport were just the tip.

On September 26, the interior ministry in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany said that drones were spotted overnight. They are being investigated as possible agents of espionage or sabotage.

LITHUANIA

The National Crisis Management Centre reported that NATO member Lithuania had closed Vilnius Airport on October 28 and Belarus border crossings after several objects identified as helium-filled balloons entered its airspace. This was the fourth incident of this kind in the past week.

On October 23, the country claimed that two Russian military planes had violated its airspace. This prompted a formal NATO protest, and NATO forces reacted. Russia denied this incident.

NORWAY

Oslo Airport in Norway temporarily halted landings on early October 6, following a report that a drone was sighted near the airport. This was confirmed by Avinor, the airport's operator.

POLAND

On October 30, Wladyslaw KOSINIAK-KAMYSZ, the Polish Minister of Defence, confirmed that a Polish MiG-29 intercepted a Russian reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea.

The army of the country said its jets intercepted on October 28, a Russian aircraft that was flying a reconnaissance flight in international airspace above the Baltic Sea.

About 20 Russian drones invaded the airspace of the country on the night between September 9-10. NATO responded to the intrusion with F-35 and F-16 jet fighters, helicopters, and a Patriot system of air defence.

ROMANIA

The defence ministry reported that Romania sent fighter jets to the skies on 13 September when a drone violated Romania's airspace as part of a Russian attack near the border on Ukrainian infrastructure.

According to ISW, the flight operations at Palma de Mallorca Airport have been temporarily suspended following drone sightings on October 20, 2018.

(source: Reuters)