European Council President Antonio Costa on Tuesday accused Russia of being responsible for the appearance of drones in Ireland’s skies during a state visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky last week.
On Dec. 1, a number of military-style drones crossed the route taken by Zelensky’s plane shortly after it arrived unexpectedly early at Dublin airport – violating a no-fly zone put in place for his visit. The drones later hovered over an Irish naval vessel deployed off Dublin’s coast.
Speaking at a press conference with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin on Tuesday, Costa described the incident as “another example of the hybrid attacks from Russia and the hybrid threats from Russia in the European territory,” as per AFP.
“It’s not new, but in all our countries we are managing now with these threats and we have full confidence in the Irish authorities,” he added.
In a statement, the Russian embassy in Ireland said that there is “no basis” to the accusation, as per The Irish Times.
“All we have seen is rumours and innuendo. We categorically reject any attempt to portray this incident in the terms of a so-called possible Russian involvement,” they said.
Since 19 Russian drones crossed into Poland from Belarus on Sept. 10, Europe has been plagued by airspace violations.
In some cases, authorities have been able to point to Russia’s involvement with relative certainty – when Russian fighter jets entered Lithuanian and Estonian airspace without authorization, for example.
In others, including several recent incidents where unidentified drones disrupted air traffic across Europe, the suspicions of EU and NATO countries have been harder to prove.
Nevertheless, European leaders have condemned Russia for what they see as thinly-veiled provocations – French President Emmanuel Macron previously accused the Kremlin of using the airspace violations to test NATO’s air defenses.
Last week’s incident in Dublin was first reported by Irish news outlets The Journal and The Irish Times, before authorities confirmed they were investigating.
According to an unnamed security source cited by The Irish Times, the drones had their lights turned on and it appeared that “they wanted to be seen.”