EU summit, Denmark: 'We have a mandate to shoot down drones'

"In Denmark we have mandated totake down drones, in general I am in favour". This was said by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in the doorstep before the EU summit in Copenhagen where the drones and rearmament dossiers are central. On possible misgivings from southern European countries about the arms race against the Russian threat, Frederiksen emphasised: 'This is something that affects everyone, it happened to us, to Poland and it can happen to others. We have to look at the hybrid war from a European and not a national perspective'.

"We cannot take our freedom for granted. It is important for Europe to take more responsibility for its own security. Europe must be able to defend itself. This requires strength, political will and cooperation within the European Union. And it forces us to move from words to deeds and to increase military and financial support for Ukraine. In this area, the European Union has a great responsibility. My goal today is to be able to take another step in the right direction and to show that Europe is united in safeguarding our collective security,' says PM Frederiksen. Present at the summit were the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Kaja Kallas, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, as well as the Heads of State and Government of the 27 EU Member States. The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, will participate via videoconference. The two key topics of the day will be European defence and security and Ukraine.

"We are almost in hybrid war, we have to be ready, Russia will not stop". said Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo in Copenhagen, pointing out that Russian assets must be used for the security of Europe and Ukraine. Orpo then listed all cases of hybrid warfare, from missiles to drones, from damaged submarine cables to cases of sabotage.

Kaja Kallas is even harsher: 'Obviously' the overflights of Danish territory by drones of suspected Russian origin 'are not attributed, but the pattern is very clear: hybrid attacks throughout Europe have increased a lot. As Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said, these are not hybrid attacks, but state-sponsored terrorism. We have to be very firm in responding,' said the EU High Representative in Copenhagen on the sidelines of the informal European Council. Kallas did not explicitly mention Russia, although the allusion is very clear: 'It is up to Denmark' to attribute responsibility for these actions, he explains, not the EU.

The proposal to use frozen Russian assets to finance the defence and reconstruction of Ukraine should be seriously considered, provided the legal and financial risks are covered, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said at the summit before the EU leaders' meeting in Copenhagen.