The European Commission wants to expand the “anti-Drone wall” to protect the entire continent. South and West states complained that the project ignores the threats in their regions
Peklo rocket drones (“hell”) with long range, exposed during the teaching of the first batch to the Ukrainian defense forces, in Kiev, on December 6, 2024. Photo: Volodymyr Tarasov / Zuma Press / Profimedia
The European Commission has proposed the extension of the initiative which provides for the so-called “anti-Drone wall” on the eastern flank of Europe to protect the entire continent, after some regions were declared excluded, two EU officials and an EU diplomat told Reuters, according to News.ro.
The broader proposal for a “European Drones Defense Initiative” will be included in a “Defense Preparation sheet” that will be presented by the European Commission on Thursday, the sources said under the condition of anonymity.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed the project of the “Anti-Drone Wall” after about 20 Russian drones entered the Air Space of Poland, a member of the EU and NATO last month.
Commission officials have stated that the idea is to counteract future incursions by building a network of sensors, electronic jamming and weapons, from the Baltic states to the Black Sea.
The Eastern European states welcomed the proposal, but the countries in southern and western Europe said that it neglected the threats represented by the drones in their part of the continent.
The European Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius suggested on Tuesday that a change is being prepared, using both the old and the new project name in a speech at a conference on Defense, in Brussels.
“We propose the European wall against drones … that is … the European Defense Initiative against drones, an anti-Drone network to protect the whole of Europe, as well as other emblematic defense projects,” he said.
