Czechia Calls Leipzig Drone Incident, Which Aimed to Blow Up a Plane, "Alarming"

Czech Foreign Minister Ondřej Macinka has described the findings of the German investigation into the drone incident at Leipzig Airport as "alarming," saying he intends to discuss the situation with Czech intelligence services. He made the statement ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Wicklow, Ireland, the ČTK agency reports.

"The findings are alarming, and they cannot be taken lightly. This is genuinely not a matter of media speculation about domestic political games," Macinka said.

A Political Intrigue Theory

SPD lawmaker Libor Vondráček (of the "Free" faction) earlier put forward an alternative theory on Czech Television, suggesting the incident could be linked to political maneuvering ahead of elections in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, where polls show the pro-Russian Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the lead.

"I see that the current establishment in Germany is horrified by how well AfD is polling, and perhaps it's trying to underscore — by branding AfD as a pro-Russian party — just how bad Russia is," Vondráček said, adding that Germany's conclusions still need to be proven in court.

Macinka, reacting to the results of the German investigation on Tuesday, already announced he would summon Russian Ambassador Anna Ponomaryova.

Moscow's Agents and Berlin's Response

According to German authorities, agents hired by Moscow were behind the planned attack. In response, Germany is closing Russia's consulate general and terminating the agreement governing the so-called Russian House in Berlin.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the August attack on the German airport bears all the hallmarks of state-sponsored terrorism. "The question is what we're going to do about it," Kallas said.

Russia, for its part, has accused Germany of escalating the situation amid a rising number of similar hybrid attacks against European countries.

A Faulty Detonator

An airport worker in eastern Germany spotted a drone near an Antonov cargo plane late on the evening of August 4. It later emerged that the drone was carrying explosives, but the detonator apparently malfunctioned. Airport operations were suspended after the drone was discovered.

Another cargo plane, which was preparing to land at the time, had to abort its approach after colliding with an "unidentified flying object." It remains unclear whether this, too, was a drone.

In late August, German media reported that police had found another drone — possibly a third one — near the airport in mid-August.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz