After drone sightings cause Zaventem airport near Brussels to close temporarily, Belgium turns to its European allies for help.

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,

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

Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken announced that Paris will send an anti-drone team to the country, which saw unprecedented drone incursions over airports and military sites last week.

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.

The European Union is considering using assets from frozen Russian bank accounts to support Ukraine. German officials said Moscow may be issuing threats over the plan in the form of drones.

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

Belgium called an emergency meeting of key government ministers and security chiefs for Thursday after drone sightings forced closures of airports and a military air base on Tuesday evening in what the defence minister called a coordinated attack.

Belgium’s National Security Council has advised that all drones and drone pilots must be registered. This way, the Belgian government hopes to gain control over drones that have been spotted around airports and military bases in recent days.