The recent drone incidents at the Volkel and Eindhoven air bases are causing growing concern in the House of Representatives. During a debate on Wednesday, outgoing Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans warned that many questions may remain unanswered.
Drones were spotted above Volkel air base last Friday and Saturday evening. That happened on Saturday evening at Eindhoven Air Base. At both locations an attempt was made to switch off the drones – something that has never happened before in the Netherlands. Similar disruptions have been reported for some time in other European countries, including Denmark, Norway, Belgium and Germany.
MPs reacted shocked. JA21 MP Daniël van den Berg spoke of a worrying development. D66 member Fatimazhra Belhirch wanted to know how the drones were able to enter the secure zones and what exactly we saw last weekend. Kati Piri (GroenLinks-PvdA) criticized the fact that the purchase of resources to combat drones is only now being accelerated.
Minister Brekelmans emphasized that investigations into the incidents are still in full swing. At the same time, he tempered expectations: according to him, research into previous drone cases in surrounding countries has not provided a very clear picture.