Police closed Germany's Nuremberg Airport on Tuesday. On suspicion of an air emergency, the plane in question landed safely.
There are still many unanswered questions, while investigations continue to determine the causes of the incident.
A police spokesman said: “We assume there is a possible weather emergency, but it has not yet been confirmed.” The spokesman was not yet able to determine the number of police personnel who surrounded the airport.
The security move took place before the landing of a flight coming from the Greek island of Corfu.
An airport spokesman said that the plane landed safely.
According to information obtained by the German News Agency, a symbol indicating a state of emergency had been issued earlier.
The spokesman added that Eurofighter fighter jets participated in escorting the plane, but it has since left the area.
Early this morning, the airport witnessed another report about the possibility of spotting a drone.
Police reported that three pilots separately reported spotting an object during take-off or landing, possibly a drone.
In coordination with the Albrecht Dürer Airport in Nuremberg and the German Air Traffic Control Authority, the border police department responsible for the airport immediately began search and monitoring operations, with the participation of a police helicopter, but no drone was found.
The first security operation caused temporary disruptions to air traffic.
An airport spokesman said that six flights were delayed; Including two arrival flights and four departure flights.
Two arriving planes were also forced to divert to Cologne and Prague, before they were later able to continue their flights to Nuremberg. It is not yet clear whether the two incidents are related to each other.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte confirmed today (Tuesday) that the alliance will adapt its defense arrangements “according to needs” after drones again targeted two commercial ships in the Black Sea, off the Bulgarian coast. He wrote on the “X” platform: “We have previously strengthened our arrangements on the eastern wing, and we will continue to monitor the security situation, while adapting our measures related to deterrence and defense according to needs.” Rutte indicated that he had contacted Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev after the new attack.
Two commercial ships were attacked by drones last week in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea. He said: “We do not have strong and clear evidence that would allow us to accuse any specific party, but... logic indicates that what happened is in Russia’s interest,” according to Agence France-Presse.
Fears have increased in recent months that the Kremlin is escalating its activities in Europe through multiple attacks, especially after prominent incidents, including the discovery of a drone loaded with explosives at the German Leipzig Airport.
NATO's Supreme Military Commander, US General Alexus Grinkevich, vowed on Monday that the alliance would confront any attack that any of its member states might be exposed to, in a direct warning to Russia amid growing European fears of threats emanating from Moscow. “We will ensure... that any attack on any ally will be completely futile,” Grinkevich said.
Eleven people were missing after two ships were struck off the coast of Bulgaria on Tuesday, according to a spokeswoman for the Dobrich region in the northeast of the country, in the latest security incident in the Black Sea.
The spokeswoman said: “According to the information we received from the rescue center... five people were rescued and 11 are still missing.” This is preliminary information,” noting that the sea was very turbulent, according to what was reported by “Agence France-Presse.”
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said earlier that two ships were subjected to drone strikes off the Bulgarian coast, and announced his intention to summon the Russian ambassador, describing the attack he reported to NATO as “unacceptable.”
Radev said, during an emergency meeting of the Bulgarian Security Council, that the Sofia authorities received the first distress signal from one of the two ships “at 01.30 (22.30 GMT),” noting that the crew members who were all rescued reported that the ship flying the Maltese flag and owned by Ukraine “was subjected to strikes by three drones.” He added that “another ship was hit” and “sinked” shortly after that, and “one of its crew members was able to be rescued.”
Two commercial ships were attacked by drones last week in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea. One of the two ships sank, and its crew members, nine Syrians and one Egyptian, are still missing, while the eighteen sailors who were on board the second ship were rescued.
Radev considered, “This new attack on two commercial ships in direct proximity to Bulgarian territorial waters is completely unacceptable.”
The Sofia authorities explained that the first strike occurred 18 nautical miles east of Byala, and the second 17 miles east of Krapets, two areas on the coast of the eastern European country.
The crew of the first ship, “Chesya 3,” registered in the Ukrainian port of Odessa, consists of seven Ukrainians and eight Azerbaijanis.
Radev indicated that the crew members were transferred to the Bulgarian port of Varna, and five of them are receiving “medical aid due to minor injuries.” He added: “We do not have strong and clear evidence to bring charges against either party, but logic shows that the outcome is in Russia’s interest.”
European condemnation
In turn, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Tuesday, condemned the attacks launched by drones on commercial ships near the coast of Bulgaria, and called for those responsible to be held accountable.
Von der Leyen said via “X”: “The Black Sea has become another front for the escalation of the Russian war on Ukraine. This is unacceptable. Those responsible for this must be held accountable.”
The Prime Minister of Bulgaria had reported, earlier on Tuesday, that two ships had been subjected to drone strikes off the country’s coast on the Black Sea. Which led to one of them drowning, in the second such incident within a week.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sipha called on the “X” platform to “intensify pressure on Russia,” considering that the Black Sea constitutes “a lifeline for global food security.” He believed that “Russia is attacking him with the aim of turning hunger into a weapon and taking the world hostage.”
In two letters to officials of the two organizations, Radev called for giving top priority to studying this issue. He also called on the European Maritime Safety Agency to look into the issue.
The Kremlin announced today (Tuesday) that contacts regarding a ceasefire on targets linked to the energy sector between Russia and Ukraine, which US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday, are still continuing, indicating that it does not see a direct relationship between any potential agreement on Russian diesel exports and Moscow’s position on peace talks to end the war in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that he had nothing to add regarding communications related to stopping targeting energy facilities at the present time, and he did not specify who Russia was negotiating with regarding this file.
Trump had announced a ceasefire on energy targets, and said it would take effect “with immediate effect.” But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the announcement as a surprise to Ukraine, while Russia did not clarify whether it had been informed of it in advance.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated on Tuesday that its forces did not target any Ukrainian sites related to the energy sector during the attacks it launched at night.
In a related context, Peskov denied the existence of a direct relationship between any potential agreement on Russian diesel exports and Moscow's position on the peace talks on Ukraine.
His statements came as a comment on a Reuters report, citing sources, that envoys of the US President informed Ukrainian officials on Friday that allowing Russia to export quantities of diesel comes as part of an effort to bring it back to the negotiating table to reach a settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.
