In recent weeks, drones have violated Polish, Romanian, Danish and Norwegian airspace, with Europe casting blame on Russia in many of the cases. Those incidents gave new momentum to a so-called drone wall — an initiative first pitched by frontline countries last year and backed by von der Leyen in her State of the Union address last month. Earlier this week, however, […]
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In recent weeks, drones have violated Polish, Romanian, Danish and Norwegian airspace, with Europe casting blame on Russia in many of the cases. Those incidents gave new momentum to a so-called drone wall — an initiative first pitched by frontline countries last year and backed by von der Leyen in her State of the Union address last month.
Earlier this week, however, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said there were more urgent priorities to tackle. “Drone defense, of course, but not by a drone wall,” he told an audience at the Warsaw Security Forum.
The drone wall debate also underscores how geography often leads to disagreements among European leaders regarding how best to protect the continent from external threats, including Russia — and those divisions were on show in Copenhagen as leaders entered the summit.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned about not forgetting Europe’s southern flank, a message echoed by her Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
“Any common European defense project concerning Europe cannot be limited to the continent’s eastern borders,” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda praised the project ahead of the Copenhagen meeting, highlighting a clear divide between frontline nations and countries further from the Russian and Ukrainian borders.
