Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said Thursday that the first stage of a planned European “drone wall” could be completed by the beginning of the European Union’s next long-term budget cycle.
“At least the first stage could be completed by the next multiannual financial framework,” Nausėda told reporters ahead of a European Political Community summit in Copenhagen. “And maybe in the next financial document of the European Union, there will be money especially dedicated for that purpose so we can move to the second stage of building the ‘drone wall’.”
EU leaders meeting in Denmark are discussing regional security priorities, with the drone wall among the proposed projects aimed at countering Russia’s increasing use of unmanned aircraft.
Last week, defence ministers from about ten mostly eastern EU countries began talks on building a system to detect and, eventually, neutralise drones. Nausėda called it an ambitious undertaking, but said recent incidents show the threat extends far beyond Russia’s immediate neighbours.
“Initially we thought that this was a threat to the countries which have a direct border with Belarus and Russia, which are really directly on the front line,” he said. “Now the recent events in Denmark show that even countries which do not have a border with the Russian Federation are exposed.”
In recent days, unidentified drones in Denmark forced temporary airport closures and were spotted near military sites, alarming officials in Copenhagen, which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency.
Elsewhere in Europe, Russian aircraft have repeatedly entered NATO airspace in Poland, Estonia and Romania. Over the summer, two Russian Geran drones crossed into Lithuania, one carrying explosives.
“In Lithuania, we try to protect those areas or those parts of our border which are most exposed or most vulnerable, because we see that the drones are usually coming from Ukraine through the territory of Belarus,” Nausėda said. “Belarus is trying to shoot them down too, but not always successfully.”
He added that Lithuania focuses on protecting areas near its capital, Vilnius, which lies along the flight path of drones launched from Ukraine. “It costs, of course, quite a significant amount of money, but it’s anyway cheaper than building a wall or a system which could protect every inch of Lithuanian soil,” he said.
Lithuania is preparing to purchase additional air defence systems worth 500 million euros. But Chief of Defence Raimundas Vaikšnoras has cautioned that even with those acquisitions, total protection is impossible.
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