BERLIN — European defense ministers will convene next week and discuss specifics of a planned “drone wall” meant to protect the continent from incursions of its airspace coming from Russia, Reuters reported on Thursday.
The initiative gained a sense of urgency following the violation of Polish airspace by Russian strike drones last week, which left at least one house damaged.
“We want really to move ahead with very, very intensive and effective preparations to start to fill this gap, which is really very dangerous for us… as quickly as we can do it,” EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, who is Lithuanian, told Reuters.
Kubilius has been a public supporter of a drone wall for longer than the EU leadership has been outwardly enthusiastic about the project, and he will convene next week’s meeting.
The concept of a “drone wall” along Europe’s eastern border originated with Lithuania in May 2023, when then-Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė first proposed the initiative as part of a broader effort to enhance border surveillance and defense across NATO’s eastern flank. By May 2024, six NATO countries, including the three Baltic states, plus Poland, Norway and Finland, had agreed to cooperate on the project.
A joint Estonian-Lithuanian proposal was denied EU funding in the spring of this year. The mood in Brussels shifted entirely, however, after around 20 drones entered Polish airspace on the night of September 10. Speaking that day in her landmark State of the Union address, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged that the Union would establish a drone wall to protect its 27 member states from UAVs in the future.
Kubilius also indicated that Ukrainian know-how and technology might play a role. Previously, von der Leyen had also used her speech on Sept. 10 to announce a drone partnership worth €6 billion ($7 billion) with Ukraine, intended to bring the continent up to speed in this crucial dimension of modern warfare.
“They’re keen to share their experience and know-how,” Kubilius was quoted as saying.
While details remain scarce on what exactly a so-called drone wall will consist of, how it will work and what it will cost, the defense commissioner said he envisioned a series of sensors, jamming systems and weapons to detect and combat incoming unmanned aerial vehicles.
Setting it up could take as little as a year, Kubilius said, citing public estimates, though he cautioned that it was still too early to make a good estimate.
Although the invasion of Polish airspace was the most egregious, there have been other cases when EU territory was breached by Russian aircraft since the war in Ukraine began. Just three days later, Russian drones were reportedly tracked overflying Romania on their way to attack a remote part of Ukraine.
Linus Höller is Defense News’ Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds a master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.
