Cooperation between the EU and the Western Balkan countries in the report on drones and new warfare systems

Sarajevo (Fena) – Member of the European Parliament and member of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) Željana Zovko has successfully included her amendments in the report entitled “Drones and new systems of warfare – the EU’s need to adapt in order to be prepared for today’s security challenges”.

Given the increasing security challenges, the European Commission has identified four leading projects and a method for quickly filling the main capability gaps. Of the four priority projects, the most urgent is the initiative for defence against drones, which follows after three and a half years of war in Ukraine that has revealed their strategic importance in the new method of warfare.

In her annual State of the Union address, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the concept of a “counter-drone wall”. The European Parliament report comes in the context of repeated violations of EU airspace by drones and calls on the EU and its Member States to urgently work on concrete projects aimed at filling capability gaps in the field of integrated air and missile defence, particularly with regard to drone warfare and counter-drone protection.

Zovko has included in this report several important amendments, including one calling on the European Commission to include Western Balkan countries that so wish in the “Drone Wall” project, while deepening cooperation in the field of security and defence, including capacity building, combating hybrid threats and protecting critical infrastructure.

Furthermore, Zovko has included amendments that emphasize that partnerships with Western Balkan countries in the EU’s immediate neighbourhood are key to regional stability and resilience, and recognize that Western Balkan countries are exposed to malicious foreign influence, hybrid threats, disinformation and political interference aimed at undermining European security. (4.12.)