Helsinki Airport resumed normal flight operations on Friday morning after a three-hour suspension triggered by a drone warning, Finnish officials confirmed. The airport halted all air traffic from 4:00 to 7:00 local time after safety authorities issued a danger alert for the southern Uusimaa region over a potential drone in the area.
"Although flights are operating again, the disruption will cause delays and cancellations on Friday, May 15. Morning delays may also affect departing and arriving flights later in the afternoon," Helsinki Airport said in a statement. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo stated that defence forces had intensified surveillance before confirming on X that the "danger in Uusimaa is over," without providing further details.
Broader European Drone Concerns
The incident in Finland is part of a wider pattern of drone activity across Europe that has kept authorities on edge. Since last September, drone flyovers into NATO airspace reached an unprecedented scale, prompting European leaders to agree on developing a "drone wall" along their borders to better detect, track, and intercept drones violating European airspace. In November, NATO military officials said a new US anti-drone system had been deployed to the alliance’s eastern flank.
Following a violation of Polish airspace, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced the formation of the Eastern Sentry programme, aimed at deterring further Russian incursions. Some European officials have described these incidents as Moscow testing NATO’s response, raising questions about the alliance’s preparedness against potential threats from Russia. The Kremlin has dismissed allegations that Russia is behind some of the unidentified drone flights in Europe as "unfounded."
Latvia's Political Crisis
Meanwhile, Latvia is grappling with a political crisis triggered by a drone incursion. On Thursday, Prime Minister Evika Siliņa announced her resignation, effectively collapsing the country's governing coalition, which had been under strain for months. "The most important thing for me is the wellbeing of Latvians and the security of our country," she said at a press conference. "We are fully aware of the times we are all living in. The brutal war waged by Russia in Ukraine has changed the security situation throughout Europe."
The crisis began when drones on an attack mission across the border in Russia and Ukraine crashed into Latvian territory on 7 May after being electronically diverted by the Russian military. One drone caused a fire at a disused oil storage site in eastern Latvia. On Sunday, Siliņa sacked her defence minister Andris Spruds over the affair, stating that Latvia's anti-drone systems had not been deployed quickly enough to counter the intrusions. Spruds's sacking prompted nine of his allies, fellow members of the left-wing Progressive party, to quit Siliņa's ruling coalition, alleging she had made him a scapegoat. Spruds formally resigned on Monday, and Siliņa proposed a military officer as his replacement, but the Progressive party rejected him.
The drone intrusions have not caused victims but have exposed weaknesses in Latvia's air defence system. Following talks with Latvia's President Edgars Rinkēvičs at a summit in Bucharest on Wednesday, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would send experts to Latvia to help with their air defences. Ukraine would also work with Latvia "to build a multi-layered air defence system against different types of threats," he said. Rinkēvičs said a "long-term" air defence accord would be prepared.
For more on the political fallout in Latvia, see Latvia's Government Collapses After Drone Incursion; US-China Summit Ends and Latvia's Air Defence Failures Exposed After Drone Incursion and Minister's Resignation. The broader context of drone attacks in Ukraine is covered in Russian Drone Barrage Hits Kharkiv Residential Area as Attacks Intensify.
