The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced in the European Parliament that the anti-drone system will be a shield for the entire EU. MEPs called for the use of frozen Russian assets. There was also the topic of the Ukrainian Volodymyr Ż., whose extradition the Germans want from Poland.
MEPs debated on Wednesday about Russian violations of EU airspace. The European Commission was represented in the debate by its President, Ursula von der Leyen.
As she emphasized, Europe needs an inexpensive anti-drone system.
– Pay attention to what happened in Poland. We had to implement very expensive systems, or rather use the latest generation of fighters, to shoot down relatively cheap, mass-produced drones. This is absolutely not sustainable. We need an anti-drone system that is inexpensive, allows for quick detection, quick capture and, if necessary, quick neutralization, she said.
She added that Ukraine was ready to support the EU's efforts.
According to her the anti-drone system will be a shield for the entire Union, including its southern flank. – It should be designed to meet a wide range of challenges, from responding to natural disasters to fighting transnational organized crime; from monitoring migration being used as a weapon to controlling Russia's shadow fleet. The list is long, she emphasized.
Von der Leyen noted that the EC has intensified activities in the field of nine key defense capabilities, from air defense, through cyber attacks, to electronic warfare. – For each of them, we will create coalitions for collective capabilities, i.e. groups of member states obliged to act together and quickly. We have already seen that this lead state model brings results. It is enough to recall the initiatives of the Czech Republic or Denmark, which provided weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, she said. She added that in the case of these initiatives, one country also took the lead and others joined. She added that this model will be extended to other sectors.
A PO MEP spoke on behalf of the European People's Party (EPP), the largest group in the EP Andrzej Halicki. He called for actions on the Internet against the “Russian cyber army.” – We must block and eliminate those who work for Russia online. The agents are also here, in this room, they say it is not our war, they want us to be weaker, he noted.
Halicki also appealed to the EC to support the European arms industry by excluding the production of steel and chemicals from the ETS carbon dioxide emission permit system. As he argued, steel and chemicals are necessary for the production of weapons. – This is not a big economic effort, and new legislation is needed. Arms industry without ETS – he said.
PiS MEP Adam Bielanwho spoke on behalf of the third largest group in the chamber – European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), emphasized that not all countries pursued policies in the spirit of Europe's interests. – When we see Russian drones over Berlin, Brussels and Copenhagen today, let's think about the billions of euros pumped east by (former German chancellors) Gerhard Schroeder and Angela Merkel – he said. – Yes, this Angela Merkel clumsily trying to shrug off responsibility today, bizarrely insinuating the inappropriate involvement of the countries contesting her politics, Bielany noted.
He also referred to the case of Volodymyr Ż., suspected of blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines. He was arrested in Poland and is being extradited by Germany. – I would like to remind Chancellor (German Friedrich) Merz that Ukraine is at war with Russia because it was attacked. Ukrainians have every right to attack both Russian refineries and (…) transmission networks, and all we can do is support them, not punish them for this, Bielan emphasized.
Representatives of the social democrats from SD, liberals from Renew Europe and the Greens: Iratxe Garcia Perez, Valerie Hayer and Terry Reintke supported the use of Russian assets frozen in Europe. The leader of the Social Democrats argued that Russian leader Vladimir Putin will start negotiating peace when forced to do so. According to Perez, the EU must help Ukraine win this war by using EUR 200 billion belonging to the Russian central bank.
Hayer also spoke in favor of sanctions against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who – as she stated – “directed Hungarian drones over Ukrainian airspace.” – It's scandalous – said the liberal.
Reintke added that the EU not only needs protection against drones, but also needs to withdraw from buying Russian energy resources. – In August 2025 alone, EU countries spent over EUR 1 billion on Russian fossil fuels, she said.
PO MEP Bartłomiej Sinkiewicz he noted that for years Russia has been conducting actions against the West that do not resemble a traditional war. – Hybrid war is about pushing the boundaries of what we consider acceptable – he argued.
He added that the essence of the problem does not concern strictly military actions, but effective defense “in the sphere of war without war” in which Russia operates. – We must clearly say “enough” and draw lines beyond which we will be met with a response. At this meeting we will adopt a Parliament resolution on this matter. There is a proposal to designate such lines, said Sienkiewicz.
PiS MEP Arkadiusz Mularczyk he turned to the German Social Democrat Tobias Cremer with the question of whether the German government is doing the right thing by seeking the extradition of Volodymyr Ż. – If this Ukrainian actually blew up Nord Stream, it was an imperial project that served German-Russian cooperation and was against Ukraine and Central Europe – he said.
Cremer noted in response that Nord Stream was a mistake and “it's good we don't have it anymore.” – At the same time, I believe in the rule of law. That's the difference between us and Putin. I trust our courts, they should prosecute the guilty, he emphasized.
A French MEP from the National Rally party, which belongs to the far-right group Patriots for Europe, Pierre-Romain Thionnet stressed that airspace violations are condemnable but that the response to them should be proportionate. “Exaggerated responses that call all incursions an active war and call for shooting down all flying objects raise the stakes and are counterproductive,” he said. – We are not at war with Russia, fortunately, but we are also not at peace – he added.
From Brussels Magdalena Cedro and Łukasz Osiński (PAP)
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