Troels Lund and EU colleagues kick off plan for drone wall in Eastern Europe
Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen (V) informed the defense ministers from several EU countries on Friday about the recent drone incidents in Denmark.
This happened when the ministers gathered to discuss a possible establishment of a European “drone wall” along Europe’s eastern flank.
This is reported by the Ministry of Defense on the social media platform X.
The countries agreed to move forward with plans for a defense structure aimed at drones, according to the ministry.
– A European collaboration on a drone wall could strengthen Europe’s defense and can contribute to supporting production and innovation in the drone sector at the European level.
– Additionally, the coalition could draw on Ukrainian experiences when it comes to knowledge sharing and learning, the Ministry of Defense writes.
In addition to Denmark, representatives from Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine participated in the meeting.
It is unclear what the “drone wall” will consist of. Apparently, this is something the countries will have to figure out later.
– There was agreement that it is now time to push forward with the plans. They need to be specified and accelerated. And Denmark is ready to contribute, writes the Ministry of Defense.
EU Commissioner for Defense Andrius Kubilius states that EU countries are now moving from discussions to action.
The drone wall is expected to be included in the EU Commission’s roadmap for the rearmament of Europe towards 2030.
It is planned to be discussed at next week’s EU summit in Copenhagen and then, as planned, adopted at the formal EU summit in Brussels at the end of October:
– We are facing clear challenges. And our response must be clear and unequivocal.
– We have decided to move from discussions to concrete actions. We will prioritize a drone wall with drone detection, says Andrius Kubilius.
He emphasizes that the first step will be to ensure the detection of drones. Here, the hope is that Ukraine’s experiences from the war against Russia can be utilized.
– Our current systems are good at detecting fighter jets and missiles. But we lack the ability to detect smaller things like drones. Ukraine has expertise that can be used, says Andrius Kubilius.
He urges EU countries to use funds from the EU’s so-called SAFE program to finance the drone wall.
There is also already funding allocated in the EU’s EDIP program, which can be used for joint EU defense projects, says Andrius Kubilius.
– Our first task should be to establish a network of detectors. Our monitoring systems need to be integrated so that we can see what is coming in from our neighboring countries as well, says Andrius Kubilius.
He points out that experts expect the first part of the wall to be built within a year.
– We need to see if that timeline is realistic. We first need to talk to Ukraine about their production of drones and anti-drone systems, says Kubilius.
