In the past weeks, drones have entered the airspace of Poland, Romania, Denmark, and Norway, with Europe frequently attributing these breaches to Russia. These events have revitalized the push for a “drone wall,” an idea that frontline nations introduced last year and endorsed by von der Leyen in her recent State of the Union address.
However, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stated earlier this week that other priorities were more pressing. He remarked, “Drone defense, of course, but not by a drone wall,” at the Warsaw Security Forum.
The discussion on the drone wall highlights geographic-based disagreements among European leaders on the best ways to protect the continent from external threats, including Russia, as demonstrated at the summit in Copenhagen.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni emphasized the importance of not neglecting Europe’s southern regions, a sentiment shared by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
“Any joint European defense initiative cannot be confined to the continent’s eastern borders,” he commented to journalists.
Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda endorsed the project before the Copenhagen meeting, underscoring a noticeable division between nations on the frontline and those located further from the Russian and Ukrainian borders.
Leave a Reply