Belgium’s Interior Minister Bernard Quintin has described the early-August drone incident at Leipzig/Halle Airport, which Germany says was linked to Russia, as “an attack” rather than a “hybrid threat.”
Speaking on VRT programme De Afspraak on Friday, Quintin said: “What happened in Leipzig is an attack, full stop.”
He added that Europe was facing a broader pattern of hostile acts. “We are in a kind of war,” he said, citing daily cyberattacks and the cutting of cables in the Gulf of Finland. “These are attacks. They are waging war on us.”
However, when asked whether people should be afraid, the minister struck a calmer tone.
“We must be aware that we are in a new world,” he said.
In early August, a drone fitted with explosives and a detonator was found in the secure area of Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport, among Ukrainian cargo planes.
On Tuesday, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said Russia was responsible for the failed attack.
