Suspicious drones blocked, on Tuesday evening, the airports in Belgium, where there was “no flight on departure and arrival”. What is the situation today?

Brussels and Liège airports were closed on Tuesday evening after drones were reported near them. Several flights scheduled to land were diverted and some take-offs were delayed or cancelled, according to international media.

A drone was spotted near Brussels Airport on Tuesday evening around 20:00 local time. Thus, it was decided to close the airport for security reasons, according to a spokesman for the Belgian air traffic control service, quoted by Reuters.

“There is no longer any departing and arriving flights due to suspicions about drones,” the airport spokeswoman said.

Later, the national airline Brussels Airlines announced that 15 flights that were going to leave could not take off, and eight flights that were supposed to land were redirected to other airports, writes CNN.

The drones also closed Liège airport, used mainly as a cargo hub, according to an airport spokesman, who gave no further details.

As a precaution, air traffic was also suspended on arrival at Brussels Charleroi Airport, Belgium's second largest airport.

Brussels airport reopened on Wednesday morning, although some flights were canceled and others were delayed.

Drone incidents aim to 'destabilize the country'

The incident on Tuesday evening appears to have been carried out by professionals seeking to “destabilize the country”, Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken told public television.

In the last two months, Belgium, like other European countries, has been affected by overflights of drones considered suspicious.

Over the weekend, the Kleine-Borgel military base in northeastern Belgium – which houses American nuclear weapons – was flown over three times. This incident led to the opening of an investigation by Belgian military intelligence.

Although the Belgian defense minister did not attribute the weekend incident to Moscow, he said “the Russians are trying to do this in all European countries”.

Last month, Belgium reported its first drone incidents, shortly after incidents in the airspace of Poland, Romania, Estonia and Denmark, some of which were identified as being linked to Russia. Recently, Lithuania closed its border with Belarus following constant violations of its airspace.

In response to recent incidents, the European Commission wants to establish an “anti-drone wall” at the EU level, which would be fully operational by 2027.