Danish military authorities issued a confidential call-up order on 28 September for several hundred reserve soldiers in direct response to ongoing drone incidents over the country’s airspace, TV 2 reports.

The broadcaster obtained details of the classified mobilization order, which explicitly references the drone situation in Danish airspace and instructs personnel to report for duty as quickly as possible. The exact scale of the call-up remains unclear, though sources told TV 2 that hundreds of soldiers have been summoned.

“It testifies that we are in a completely extraordinary situation. That’s why we are also seeing these extraordinary measures. I don’t recall having heard of this before,” said Jacob Kaarsbo, a security policy advisor and former chief analyst at the Danish Defence Intelligence Service.

According to TV 2’s information, the mobilization aims to prepare for potential deployment on Danish soil. Kaarsbo suggested this could relate to the EU summit scheduled to take place in Copenhagen later this week.

“Regardless of what happens, we are on a high scale with everything that’s happening, and what’s happening this week. And there are still Russian vessels sailing around our country. I’m quite sure that all sails are being set,” Kaarsbo said.

The Danish military does not publish current reserve force numbers, but in 2013 the Main Organization for Reserve Personnel in Denmark estimated the force at 3,000 soldiers.

Both the Defence Ministry and Defence Command declined to comment. 

Jesper Schneider, chairman of the Main Organization for Reserve Personnel in Denmark, would not specify when the last emergency call-up occurred but explained that reserves are routinely summoned for both training and operational tasks.

“You could say that there is an increasing need for reservists to step in and deliver extra. Whether the current situation increases the need or not, we cannot comment on. However, it is not unusual to draw on extra forces,” Schneider said.

He added that the current security situation demonstrates why Denmark maintains callable reserve personnel. “A large part of the personnel has a readiness contract that obliges them to be available. This is a good example of situations where you need to have a large and capable reserve,” Schneier noted.

The mobilization comes as Denmark has imposed a temporary ban on all civilian drone flights through Friday, 3 October. Violations can result in fines or imprisonment of up to two years. The restrictions do not apply to military, government, police, or medical and rescue drones.