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NATO, nations defend sky during summits in Denmark

NATO Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE)

Oct 2 2025

Mons, Belgium -- NATO and nations deployed additional multi-domain capabilities on the land, in the air and on the sea to defend the sky during the European Union (EU) and European Political Community (EPC) summits in Copenhagen, Denmark, October 1-2, following recent drone incursions in that country.

"We have to keep our skies safe," said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in a press statement together with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen ahead of a meeting of the College of European Commissioners in Brussels, September 30, and ahead of the EPC, which he attended.

The two-day gatherings in Denmark brought together EU leaders and more than 40 European heads of state or government to discuss a variety of pressing subjects, including those on security and defence, and support to Ukraine

Denmark requested the additional support to secure the events, prompting immediate deployments from NATO's Allied Air Command (AIRCOM) and Maritime Command (MARCOM).

On land, NATO dispatched a small team of ground forces and counter unmanned aircraft system capabilities from the U.S. to serve alongside troops and similar capabilities deployed bilaterally from other nations, including France, Germany and Sweden.

In the air, U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft surveilled the area.

Finally, between the North and Baltic Seas, NATO's Standing Maritime Group 1 ship, FGS Hamburg (F220), a German Sachsen-class frigate, and the USS Bulkeley (DDG 84), a U.S. Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, both operating under NATO's Baltic Sentry, a maritime monitoring activity, patrolled the Danish Straits along with Danish maritime units to defend the area from the sea.

"The USS Bulkeley represents a fraction of U.S. involvement in Baltic Sentry as Europeans continue to shoulder more of the burden for their own security," said U.S. Army Col. Martin L. O'Donnell, NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe spokesperson. "More than 95 percent of the ships that have supported Baltic Sentry since it began in January are European."

Several other Allies provided other support to Denmark in a national capacity.

While most of the capabilities returned to the control of their nations upon completion of the summits, FGS Hamburg remains in the area to support Baltic Sentry. That activity, alongside Eastern Sentry, continues to deliver even more focused deterrence and defence along NATO's Eastern Flank, from the High North and Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, and beyond.

Story by SHAPE Public Affairs Office