Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has slammed Brussels for failing to protect the bloc’s airports from drones, calling for European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to resign. He has argued that unauthorized UAVs disrupting air traffic should be shot down.
Mysterious drone sightings have plagued the bloc in recent weeks, with some Western media and officials speculating that Russia could be behind them, which Moscow has denied. Von der Leyen pitched the idea of a “drone wall” in her State of the Union speech last month, and the notion was raised again at an informal EU summit in Denmark this week.
In an interview with Politico published on Wednesday, O’Leary dismissed the idea.
“I don’t think a drone wall has any effect whatsoever,” he said, adding that perpetrators could easily launch drones from inside the affected country. O’Leary accused Brussels of inaction and called for tougher measures against the alleged drone threat.
“Why aren’t we shooting these drones down? It’s disruptive, and we’re calling for action,” he stated.
“I have no faith in European leaders sitting around drinking tea and eating biscuits… I have no faith in von der Leyen. She’s useless and she should quit.”
While leaders in Copenhagen voiced support for anti-drone technology, no official framework for the “drone wall” was unveiled, with decisions postponed until the EU summit later this month. Ahead of the meeting, Denmark imposed a temporary ban on civilian drones in its airspace, and reportedly called up part of its reserve force to help manage what it described as a “complex” situation caused by repeated sightings.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called the claims Western “scaremongering,” when addressing the UN last week, stressing that Russia “never directs our drones or missiles at states in Europe, members of the EU, or NATO countries.” Lavrov added that in past incidents where Moscow was blamed, “it turned out that it was the Ukrainians” behind them.
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