On Monday, Copenhagen and Oslo airports were closed after drones of an unknown origin were spotted flying in the area.

Tuesday's evening news show "Aktuaalne kaamera" looked at the situation at Tallinn Airport, the largest in Estonia.

Drone surveillance systems operate in and around the capital's airport area, installed by both the state and the airport itself. The situation is monitored around the clock.

Katrin Hagel, a member of the management board at Tallinn Airport, said procedures are in place and the airport is ready to act in situations where air traffic is disrupted and there is a need to suspend operations.

"At the moment, we mainly rely on information from Estonian Air Navigation Services and visual identification by our own operational staff and those located near the airfield. In addition, we are testing drone detection software from a couple of manufacturers. We've also carried out awareness campaigns, emphasizing that if drones are spotted near the airfield, everyone is obliged to notify the airfield coordination center, which in turn informs the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), who will take further action," Hagel told the show.

If an unidentified drone approaches the airport, law enforcement's goal is to determine who and what is involved, said Veiko Kommusaar, head of the border guard department at the PPA.

"We have various tools available for response, primarily classic drone jammers. From the PPA's perspective, this ranks among the highest-priority callouts, and when such a report comes in, we respond within the airport area," he said.

How to proceed next depends on the aircraft's purpose. Kommusaar explained that if necessary, the PPA can intervene if the drone poses a significant risk to air traffic or has malicious intent.

Drone detection and countermeasures not centrally regulated

Hagel said a more centralized approach to drone countermeasures is needed.

"Our position is that drone detection, handling drone threats, and drone countermeasures are national issues that need to be addressed centrally. Right now, this is definitely not sufficient from a nationwide perspective. At the state level, there is no agreement on how drone detection and countermeasures should be handled, who should handle them, or who is responsible—these questions remain unanswered," she said.

Kommusaar agreed that both the legal framework and the substantive issues require improvement.

Currently, each agency essentially acts independently, and police intervention is possible only in cases of restricted airspace violations.

"Legally, the ability to respond is primarily granted to the agencies that have established the restricted airspace, and from a response standpoint, this is clearly not sufficient. At the PPA, we certainly see the need for a clearer distribution of responsibilities within the country. For example, while we can intervene in cases of heightened or immediate threats in restricted airspace, this may not always be possible in all key areas across Estonia," Kommusaar explained.

Henry Timberg, head of the Public Order and Criminal Procedure Department at the Ministry of the Interior, agreed that coordination of drone-related tasks must be ensured at the national level.

Ministries and agencies are currently working toward this goal, Timberg said. He added that strategic documents have been drawn up and the first practical steps taken.

"However, the state's coordinating role does not mean that agencies or critical infrastructure owners are relieved of the obligation to ensure the safety of their sites, and it's clear that many agencies are indeed contributing to that effort. But a situation where different agencies or infrastructure owners develop their own detection systems independently is not sustainable from a national perspective," Timberg noted.

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