“A Turkish drone illegally intruded” into Greek airspace near the northeastern port city of Alexandroupoli close to the border with Turkey, and “air forces were immediately mobilized because of this,” reported the state broadcaster ERTnews.
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A Greek military source confirmed this incident to the news agency AFP.
After several recent high-profile incidents related to the Ukraine and Russia war, now dominated by armed drones, European countries have heightened vigilance regarding drone intrusions.
Although both Greece and Turkey are NATO members, there is considerable tension in bilateral relations arising from claims over land and maritime borders. Since 2025, Greek authorities have recorded increasing drone intrusions.
ERTnews reported that on Friday a drone flew near the Alexandroupoli airport runway at the time a passenger plane was preparing to take off. According to the broadcaster, “Greek F-16 fighter jets on alert” were immediately scrambled.
According to the news outlet Ekathimerini, two F-16 fighters were scrambled, and the passenger plane was instructed to use a different runway and then fly at low altitude until it was confirmed that there was no longer any danger in the area.
“It was not a serious incident,” a military source told AFP.
He added that the air forces respond to “incidents and daily interceptions” in northeastern and southeastern Greece, over the Aegean Sea.
