BRUSSELS, Nov 7 (AP) – Flights from one of Europe's largest cargo airports, Liege Airport, were briefly halted after drones were reportedly seen, according to an airport official on Friday. This incident contributes to the recent series of drone incidents occurring around Belgium.
Christian Delcourt, head of communications for Liege airport, reported that the presence of drones caused multiple flight interruptions between 9 pm on Thursday and 1 am on Friday, resuming again from 7 am to 8 am on Friday when full operations were reinstated.
A series of cancellations at Belgium's main international airport in Brussels occurred on Wednesday when drone sightings on Tuesday night necessitated a temporary closure. This led Prime Minister Bart De Wever to call for emergency government discussions.
This marked the first instance of drone activity forcing a shutdown at the Brussels airport. These occurrences followed a sequence of unidentified drone flights over a weekend near a military base holding US nuclear weapons.
Further drone sightings were reported near the Kleine-Brogel base on Wednesday evening.
While little new information came out of Thursday's emergency discussions, Defense Minister Theo Francken announced plans to have the National Air Safety Centre at Beauvechain air base in eastern Belgium fully operational by January 1.
“This centre will ensure better monitoring and protection of Belgian airspace, and prepare Belgium for future challenges in air safety,” Francken stated on social media.
NATO has yet to comment on whether drones were seen near its headquarters in Brussels, its military HQ in Mons, or other related facilities across Belgium.
Recently, drone incidents have caused temporary flight suspensions at airports across Europe. These mysterious drone operations over European Union countries' airspace in the past months have raised public and governmental concerns.
In some cases, Russia has been implicated, although Belgium has not identified those operating the drones. Francken suggested that some activities were part of “a spying operation” not likely performed by amateurs.
Additionally, Belgium hosts the EU headquarters and Europe's largest financial clearinghouse that controls tens of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets. Many EU nations aim to use these assets as collateral for loans to Ukraine, but Belgium has resisted.
Prime Minister De Wever alerted EU leaders last month about potential Russian retaliation if these funds are seized. EU leaders are expected to revisit this topic at an upcoming summit in Brussels next month. (AP)
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