Anonymous EU officials have partially divulged plans to protect central Brussels as security experts warn about the potential of espionage and even aerial attacks coming from unmanned aircraft—also known as drones.
The European Commission’s headquarters in Berlaymont is currently looking to the private sector to install detection cameras and even jamming technology to stop snooping, it was revealed. Senior Eurocrats are already under instruction to close their curtains to prevent the risk of outsiders looking in and filming meetings.
Brussels is slowly coming to terms with a new world of drone warfare, with Belgian authorities previously announcing new rules against unauthorised drone flights within most of the EU capital. While the European Commission, the EU’s governing executive, is pushing ahead with the safeguards, the European Council (where leaders met) and the European Parliament refused to comment about their plans on security grounds.
According to media reports, the EU guards its buildings through a combination of British and Swedish security firms, but Eurocrats are currently struggling due to their lack of a proper security force of their own as well as jurisdiction clashes with local Belgian authorities.
The EU has already released updated guidelines about managing “threats to civil space” from drones. The aerial technology is being regularly used by both drug dealers and police.
While the exact details of the Commission’s countermeasures are unknown, one leading Dutch firm lists anything from Electromagnetic Pulses (EMP) to lasers and nets to stop drone surveillance.
Propelled by the war in Ukraine, drone technology has been undergoing exponential technological growth over the past two years. It is now regularly used for surveillance, aerial bombardment, and even transporting supplies. The EU has been heavily criticised for falling behind and not creating a fully integrated industrial base for developing drone technology.
The EU has also imposed sanctions against Iran for supplying Russia with drones for use in Ukraine. The effectiveness of drone warfare has been shown in the damage caused to both Kyiv and Moscow in respective coordinated attacks.
