EU defence commissioner amplifies calls for “drone wall” along borders with Russia, Belarus

The European Commission (EC) is considering the deployment of strike drones along the bloc's borders with Russia and Belarus to prepare for a potential outbreak of hostilities.

The EU Commissioner for Defence, Andrius Kubilius, spoke on this project during a European Parliament hearing in Strasbourg regarding incidents involving unidentified drones over Europe, Caliber.Az reports citing TASS.

“The EU should develop capabilities to better detect, track and identify drones in the short term, using acoustic sensors, radars and satellites. In the long term, the capabilities to destroy and neutralise drones, including interceptor drones, mobile air-defence teams, and electronic-warfare means. For countries on the Eastern Flank, there is a need to deploy drones for strikes against ground targets if an enemy attempts to invade,” he is reported to have stated.

Kubilius, who was the former Prime Minister of Lithuania, has called on the bloc to learn from Ukraine's experience in combating the threat of Russian drones. He has spoken various times on this initiative, including in a recent interview with Polish media in which he spoke of the need for a comprehensive defence ecosystem similar to Ukraine’s — one that combines advanced technologies, real-time feedback, and flexible production.

According to the Russian article, the commissioner is said to have spoken on the threat that Russia's “Geran-2” drones can pose to Europe, noting that they possess the capability to strike targets inside the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and France out of Kaliningrad or Belarus.

The concept of a so-called "drone wall" against Russian incursions into the European Union's airspace is being widely discussed in European capitals in recent months, particularly following European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's state of the union address, in which she spoke of the idea. She called the drone wall initiative “the bedrock of credible defence” that would be part of a broader effort to protect the region from Russia.

By Nazrin Sadigova