Drone Incident: Schuster Considers Establishing a Saxon Security Council

Following the drone incident at Leipzig/Halle Airport, Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) is considering establishing a Saxon Security Council modeled after the federal government’s National Security Council. “For the past few months, I’ve been wondering whether we need such a body—one where we can discuss the issues of critical infrastructure and hybrid threats in a coordinated, interdepartmental manner across all ministries,” the CDU politician told the “Leipziger Volkszeitung” and the “Sächsische Zeitung” following a special session of the Interior Committee on Wednesday.

Three-digit number of critical facilities in Saxony

According to the Interior Minister, plans are already in place to identify critical infrastructure facilities and provide them with targeted, enhanced protection. These would include, for example, energy and water infrastructure facilities. There are potentially a three-digit number of security-relevant sites involved.

According to reports, the Interior Minister declined to comment on the possible costs of additional protective measures, such as drone defense, partly because it is not yet clear how many systems are needed and where they should be located. Regarding Leipzig/Halle Airport—where, among other incidents, a drone equipped with explosives and a detonator was discovered in early August—the Interior Minister holds the operator and the Federal Police responsible. 

Schuster on the investigation: “We’re not groping in the dark”

Schuster declined to comment on the Federal Prosecutor General’s ongoing investigation into the drone incident. “I also don’t want to reveal any information that could help the perpetrators in any way. So I’ll put it in abstract terms: We’re not in the dark.”