Interior ministers and other senior officials from 10 European countries are meeting in northern Germany on Friday to discuss how to counter hybrid threats, with drone defense set to be a key focus.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) is hosting the Baltic Sea Security Summit at the German naval academy in Flensburg.
Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden are taking part, alongside Norway and Ireland, which currently holds the rotating EU Council presidency.
The talks will focus on joint “strategies for better intelligence, deterrence and defense,” according to Germany’s Interior Ministry.
Security authorities have recorded numerous suspected hybrid incidents in the Baltic Sea region, with Russia suspected of involvement in a number of cases.
The meeting follows the discovery on August 4 of a drone carrying explosives at Leipzig Airport, a major hub for military aid shipments to Ukraine. Several Ukrainian cargo aircraft were nearby at the time.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) said on Thursday that the government would soon identify those responsible. Dobrindt has so far referred only to “foreign powers,” although Russia is suspected.
Germany’s state interior ministers are also considering a separate meeting on drone defense, potentially in Hamburg in September.