The European Union’s executive body has approved a 5-year defense road map that features plans for a “drone wall” to be fully functional by the end of 2027.
"Our goal is to build our defense capabilities in order to deter," said EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius at a briefing in Brussels.
The European Commission plan says Russia and Belarus represent “the greatest threat,” citing repeated violations of EU member states by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
“This ‘European Drone Wall’ should build on the lessons learned from Ukraine about the key value of creating innovative drone and counter-drone ecosystems, linking defense R&D with production, and relying on scalable production capacity and continuous technological development,” it says.
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What’s The EU 'Drone Wall' Plan To Counter Russian Incursions?
The proposals, which will be submitted for approval by EU leaders meeting next week, come amid intense discussions about Europe’s vulnerability -- kickstarted by an incursion of 21 Russian drones into Poland in early September.
This, combined with Russian drones over Romania and an incursion by Russian military jets into Estonian airspace, led to NATO launching its Eastern Sentry initiative to bolster air defenses.
Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Shakaliene told RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service that the Russian incursions had “helped a lot” to create a sense of urgency.
“When more and more of the NATO allies see how dangerous Russia is, how unpredictable the situation in our skies is becoming, that speeds up the processes, both of our defense funding and support to Ukraine,” she said.
Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson told RFE/RL that the Russian incursions had been a "wake-up call" for Europe.
"We have to learn a lot from the Ukrainian side, and we will be grateful if we can also procure from Ukraine in the defense industry, because they have been amazing in ramping up production," he said.
The EU drone initiative is just one part of the proposals, entitled Preserving Peace – Defense Readiness Roadmap 2030, which also feature plans for using frozen Russian assets to provide Ukraine with regular funding, steps to push forward joint defense procurement, and a “military mobility package” to facilitate faster deployments of troops and equipment across Europe.
Kubilius said the roadmap included plans for building up long-range missile strike abilities.
"In Europe, we are not producing enough of them and that is why we need to develop production of those capabilities, and of course for the time being we shall continue to procure them from our transatlantic partners," he added.
The document stresses NATO's key role in European defense, but also underlines that Europe needs to develop independent abilities over the coming years.
“By 2030, Europe needs a sufficiently strong European defense posture to credibly deter its adversaries,” it says. “To be ‘2030 ready’, Europe needs to move now.”
But some have suggested this time frame is not urgent enough. On October 13, the head of Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, Martin Jaeger, told a parliamentary hearing in Berlin that "we are already under fire today."
"We must not sit back and assume that a possible Russian attack will not come until 2029 at the earliest," Jaeger said. “"At best, there is an icy peace in Europe, which can turn into hot confrontation at any time.”
EU foreign policy cheif Kaja Kallas said Russia would remain a threat even if there were peace in Ukraine.
"Danger will not disappear even when the war in Ukraine ends. It is clear we need to toughen our defenses against Russia," she said.