Brussels had requested assistance from Germany following a “significant increase” in sightings of unidentified unmanned aerial vehicles.

By Sabine Siebold BERLIN (Reuters) -German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius suggested a link on Friday between recent drone incidents in Belgium and discussions over the use of frozen Russian assets,

Belgium's defense minister confirmed that drones had flown into the area near the Kleine Brogel air base in northeast Belgium in two phases.

Brussels seeks international help as mysterious drone flights disrupt air traffic for the fourth day in a row, prompting new EU visa restrictions on Russian nationals.

Belgium will work to improve surveillance of its airspace following repeated sightings of drones over its airports and military bases, Defence Minister Theo Francken said on Thursday.

Belgian intelligence services believe Russia is behind a series of drone flights detected in recent weeks over military bases and airports.

Belgium's defense minister said that more counter-uncrewed aerial systems "are urgently needed" after three drones spied on the Kleine-Brogel base.

The Kleine-Brogel Air Base, located in the city of Peer, stores U.S. nuclear weapons and will become the home base for new F-35 fighter jets starting in 2027. As Ukrinform reported earlier, unidentified drones had previously been spotted twice over the military base in Marche-en-Famenne in southern Belgium.