Europeans will start impeding vessels from shadow fleets when they enter their waters, French president Emmanuel Macron said to reporters after the seventh meeting of the European Political Community (EPC) in Denmark.

At a European Political Community summit in Denmark on Thursday, Emmanuel Macron announced an upcoming meeting of chiefs of staff to implement ‘obstruction policies’ against shadow fleet vessels.

Speaking to reporters following a meeting of the EPC, Macron said Europeans “have now decided to take a step forward by implementing a policy of obstruction against suspicious ships in our waters.”

“Chiefs of staff, in coordination with NATO, as part of the Coalition of the Willing, will meet in the coming days to develop joint actions in the coming weeks to implement a policy of obstruction against the shadow fleet,” he added.

The Russian president Vladimir Putin last week accused France of seizing a tanker in neutral waters with no ground: “France seized a tanker in neutral waters with no ground – allegedly looking for Russian arms / drones. There was none obviously. This is piracy. For French authorities, it’s a way to distract its citizens from domestic problems.”

EU leaders have been meeting in Copenhagen under pressure to boost European defence after a series of incursions into EU airspace, and days after the drones targeted Danish airports.

In the last two weeks, Europe has witnessed mysterious drone sightings that crippled operations at major airports.

Several unexplained sightings of drones over civilian airports and a military base were reported in Denmark last week.

While Danish officials have been cautious not to directly accuse Russia without conclusive evidence, they have not ruled out the possibility – though Moscow denies responsibility.

“There are approximately 800 to 1,000 vessels operating as part of this ghost fleet, often under vague flags, and they contribute to the Russian war effort, since they finance 35 to 40% of Russia’s war effort,” Macron said at the European Political Community meeting, calling the decision to obstruct vessels as “another step forward in the fight against the shadow fleet.”

He said that Russia finances “30 to 40% of the war effort” through the revenues of the shadow fleet.

“It represents more than 30 billion euros. It is extremely important to increase the pressure on this shadow fleet, because it will clearly reduce Russia’s capacity to finance its war effort,” the French president noted.

Macron explained that by stopping the ships, for a week or two, “we completely break the efficiency of their organization. So, the shadow fleet is a very good target if we want to improve our efficiency and reduce their capacities.”

The positions of some of Europe’s leaders towards the continuing drone incursions, acts of sabotage, cyberattacks and shadow fleet evasion appear to have hardened over two days of talks in Copenhagen.

Leaders gathered last week in the Danish capital to discuss European defence and European support to Ukraine.

The topic of European security and defence is ever more present as Poland, Romania, Estonia and Denmark have recently suffered drone and jet incursions in the airspace.

More recently, it is thought that some drones violating European airspace may be being operated from the vessels.

The European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen expressed her solidarity with those member states at the press conference that took place following the informal meeting of the European Council and the European Political Community summit.

She said: “These incursions are part of hybrid war tactics. These are threats that demand a strong and determined European response.”

Macron urged the leaders at the European Political Community summit to simply protect their interests without signalling their intentions to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

“We have put a series of sanctions on them – on the boats, on insurance companies, on harbors, and so on – but now we clearly have a way to increase the pressure by coordinating with a holistic approach on this shadow fleet. What we did in the past few days with our navy, just to make controls and to ensure compliance with international rules, delivered very concrete results. First, because you can identify the presence of the shadow fleet on your coast. Second, because you can check whether or not they comply with international rules. Third, and very importantly, you kill the business model by detaining these vessels for four days or weeks, forcing them to reorganize themselves differently and destroying the efficiency of their business model. This model was organized even before 2022, but it is now totally industrialized,” French president told European leaders at the summit.