Category World News

The most recent incursions near airports and critical infrastructure this week, which officials have called a “hybrid attack” and made hints about possible Russian involvement, are unidentified drones that have flown over Denmark’s military installations, including its largest base.

“The Danish Defense can confirm that drones were seen last night at several of the Danish Defence’s locations. An army spokesman said on Saturday that “many capabilities were deployed,” without specifying where the drones were spotted.

On Friday, police reported that “one to two drones” were observed close to and over the Karup military base in western Denmark, the country’s largest base, which houses all of the armed forces’ helicopters, airspace surveillance, flight schools, and support functions.

Police spokesman Simon Skelkjaer said he could not be reached for information on the origin of the drones and that “we didn’t take them down.”

No flights were canceled because none were scheduled at that time, according to Skelkjaer, but the Karup base shares runways with the Midtjylland civilian airport, which was briefly closed.

Copenhagen airport, the busiest airport in the Nordic region, was closed for several hours late on Monday due to mysterious drone observations made across the Nordic nation over the past week.

In the days that followed, five smaller airports, both for military and civilian use, temporarily closed.

In response to drone incursions into Polish and Romanian territory and Russian fighter jets’ invasion of Estonian airspace, which heightened tensions in light of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, drone reports closed Oslo airport for several hours earlier in the week.

Mette Frederiksen, the prime minister of Denmark, said on Thursday that “dandanda has been the victim of hybrid attacks” in reference to unconventional warfare.

Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen stated on Thursday that the flights appeared to be “the work of a professional actor,” though investigators have so far failed to identify those responsible.

Russia is the “main country that poses a threat to Europe’s security,” according to Frederiksen, who has pointed the finger at Russia.

Moscow “firmly rejects” any suggestion that it was involved in the Danish incidents, Moscow said on Thursday. Its embassy in Copenhagen described them as “a staged provocation” in a social media post.

The drone flights came just days after Denmark announced for the first time that it would acquire long-range precision weapons because Russia would “present a threat for years to come.”

A so-called “drone wall” was agreed to be a priority for the bloc on Friday by defense ministers from about 10 European Union nations.

Andrius Kubilius, the EU’s defense commissioner, said that Europe needs to quickly develop anti-drone defenses from Ukraine.

Kubilius stated in an interview that “we need to move quickly.” And we need to move, bringing Ukraine’s experience to bear, and creating a drone wall with Ukraine.

Following a two-and-a-half-year deadlock caused by legal and technical issues, Iraq resumed its exports of crude oil to Turkiye from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

According to a statement from the Iraqi oil ministry on Saturday, the resumption of operations was at 6am local time (03:00 GMT). The ministry claimed that “operations started at a quick pace and with complete smoothness,” and that no significant technical issues were found.

Alparslan Bayraktar, the minister of energy in Turkey, provided additional confirmation in a post on X.

The agreement between Iraq’s federal government, the Kurdistan regional government, and regional oil producers operating in the area will allow the flow of 180, 000 to 190, 000 barrels of crude to Turkiye’s Ceyhan port, according to the oil minister’s statement to Kurdish broadcaster Rudaw on Friday.

Following a tripartite agreement reached earlier this week between the ministry, the ministry of natural resources, and international oil companies operating in the area, the resume is scheduled to resume.

At a time when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is increasing output to increase market share, the United States had pushed for a restart, which is anticipated to eventually bring up 230, 000 bpd of crude back to international markets. In a statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised the agreement, saying it “will bring tangible benefits to both Americans and Iraqis.”

According to state news agency INA on Saturday, Iraq’s OPEC delegate, Mohammed al-Najjar, said his nation can export more than it can now now, in addition to other planned projects at Basra port, according to the state news agency INA.

He claimed that “OPEC member states have the right to demand an increase in their production shares, especially if they have projects that have increased production capacity.”

The region’s Kurdistan-based businesses will receive $ 16 per barrel to cover production and transportation costs. Within 30 days of exports, the eight oil companies that signed the agreement and the Kurdish government have agreed to meet to discuss a solution to settle the $1 billion debt the region owes to the firms.

Baghdad and Erbil have been at odds with one another over their lucrative oil exports, with the agreement being seen as a step toward stabilizing the relationship between Baghdad’s central government and the Kurdish region and raising Iraq’s oil revenues.

Prior to now, the Kurdish authorities independently sold oil exports through the port of Ceyhan in Turkiye, without the federal government’s approval or oversight.

The International Chamber of Commerce in Paris ordered Turkiye to pay $ 1.5 billion in damages to Iraq for unauthorised exports by the Kurdish regional authorities in March 2023, which was the reason the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline was shut down.