The EU agrees to create a "drone wall" against Russia within a year.

BrusselsThe constant violations of European Union airspace by Russia has woken up the member states. In just a few days, a group of countries on the eastern flank of the EU bloc met with the European Commission and NATO representatives to prepare what they call a "drone wall." Brussels avoids setting fixed deadlines, but Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius has assured that this is an "immediate priority" to defend against hybrid attacks from Vladimir Putin's regime and estimates that they will have the drone wall ready within a year.

Kubilius explained that the member states are already prepared to defend themselves against, for example, aircraft incursions into EU territory, such as the one suffered by Estonia. Regarding drones, however, things are different. The Defense Commissioner notes that these are devices that want to be below them and are more difficult to detect. Therefore, locating and shooting them down requires "different technology." Among other things, European countries will increase their radar and weapons capabilities to intercept them.

The European Commissioner explained that the member states will be coordinated with Ukraine, whom he described as "very well prepared" in this regard. "When we compare how the Ukrainians fight drone intrusions with us, we can truly say with certainty that we need to develop additional capabilities," the Defense Commissioner said at a press conference.

The initiative is not very common in the European Union, which does not have many powers in security matters. Although NATO will also contribute, it is a pioneer in the European bloc in terms of coordinating the military capabilities of its eastern flank member states, and Kubilius emphasized that all EU countries will be able to join. Representatives from Estonia, Finland, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and Romania attended the meeting. However, no officials from Hungary and Slovakia, the two most pro-Russian countries in the EU, attended.

The initiative will not be funded jointly or at the EU level; rather, each Member State will have to fund it out of its own pockets. However, Kubilius noted that there are various ways to benefit from EU funding, such as the loan bonds that Brussels has made available to Member States. Furthermore, the Defense Commissioner noted that the spending on the drone wall will also help countries meet NATO's minimum military spending, which Donald Trump mandated to be up to 5% of each state's gross domestic product (GDP).

Putin's Hybrid Attacks

The Kremlin's violations of EU airspace have not ceased in recent days. NATO announced on Tuesday that it had recorded at least Russian drone and fighter jet incursions in Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Romania. It has also detected United States and Canada, and Denmark is investigating Whether the incursions into the airspace near Copenhagen Airport are by Russian drones, although Danish authorities have suggested that it is a hybrid attack by the Kremlin. In fact, Denmark has closed another airport this Friday, Aalborg Airport, due to drone intrusions around its airspace.

The various drone intrusions into the airspace of Denmark, which is one of the EU countries with the toughest tone against Putin, have been recorded the week before the summits of the European Council and the European Political Community, which will be held in Copenhagen next Wednesday and Thursday of next week, which are predominantly European governments.