Baltic States Seek €500 Million From EU for Drone Defense, Report Says

By Staff, Agencies

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have secretly asked the European Commission for €500 million to strengthen their defenses against drones, citing what they describe as a potential Russian threat, Finland’s Iltalehti reported.

The newspaper said the defense ministers of the three Baltic states sent a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen requesting the funds on Monday.

The request has not been publicly announced, according to the report, which cited foreign policy and security sources.

The ministers reportedly argued that the funding was urgently needed amid concerns that Russia could seek to test NATO’s resolve by carrying out drone strikes against the alliance’s eastern flank.

Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius reportedly expect a response within weeks and hope to receive the funds by the end of the year.

Concerns about possible Russian attacks have intensified following remarks by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who said last week that Russia could launch drones or missiles against NATO countries supporting Ukraine “in the next few months.”

French President Emmanuel Macron described Tusk’s assessment as “sound and well-documented,” although Tusk did not provide evidence publicly.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius also told the BBC that his country feels “constantly threatened” by Russia because of drones entering its airspace.

Since spring, several Ukrainian UAVs have reportedly crossed into or crashed in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia amid Ukraine’s intensified long-range attacks against targets in northwestern Russia.

The Baltic states have attributed the incidents to Russian electronic warfare systems allegedly diverting Ukrainian drones from their intended routes.

Moscow, however, has warned the three countries that it could invoke its right to self-defense if they are knowingly allowing the Ukrainian military to use their airspace.

At the same time, senior Estonian Foreign Ministry official Jonatan Vseviov said warnings of an imminent Russian attack on the Baltic states were “blown out of proportion.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has likewise accused European leaders of using warnings of a Russian threat to justify increased military spending and distract from domestic economic and social problems.

Moscow has repeatedly denied having plans to attack NATO members, arguing that it is Western politicians who are portraying Russia as an aggressor to frighten their populations and justify higher defense spending.

Putin said some European leaders were openly preparing for war with Russia, despite what he described as public opposition to such a conflict.