Europe must step up its response to Russian provocations - EU defense commissioner

RIGA - Europe must be prepared for increased provocations by Russia in the light of recent drone incidents and therefore step up its readiness to defend against such provocations, European Union (EU) Defense and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius told members of the press in Riga on Friday.

Recent provocations have shown that Europe needs to improve its ability to detect military drones in the first place, the politician said. "It is obvious that the capabilities we have to detect aircraft or missiles with our air defense systems are not sufficient when it comes to drones. They are small and fly low," said Kubilius.

This is why we need to develop capabilities both to spot drones and to destroy them, not necessarily with missiles worth millions, as was recently done in Poland, the Commissioner said.

During his visit to Latvia, Kubilius met with Defense Minister Andris Spruds (Progressives), President Edgars Rinkevics and Speaker of the Saeima Daiga Mierina (Greens/Farmers). In his opinion, Latvia is doing a great job in developing its capabilities and setting a good example for all EU countries. "Because these provocations can easily reach not only border countries, as we have seen, but also distant EU countries, because launching drones is not too difficult," the Commissioner said.

EU Member States can also come together to develop joint defense plans, he said. In border regions, the ability to cooperate is particularly important, Kubilius stressed. "Drones know no borders. They can fly from Estonia to Latvia and then to Lithuania, so it would be good if all countries in the region could have access to data on spotted drones," the politician said.

Kubilius also noted that EU Member States have been invited to review their Recovery and Resilience Mechanism plans by the end of the year, possibly also finding new options to strengthen defense. This includes building a drone wall.

According to Kubilius, it is currently estimated that such a drone wall in Poland and the three Baltic States could cost around EUR 1 billion for all countries combined. "So it is not 10 or 100 billion, as some people, some politicians say," Kubilius stressed.

Kubilius highlighted that other countries can learn a lot from Ukraine in the development of the drone industry. According to him, Ukrainians have always stressed that alongside the development of technology, it is also important to develop the so-called ecosystem. This is necessary because Russia is rapidly learning how to develop new types of drones. In Ukraine, everyone involved in the production and use of drones works together, and if it is found that drones or other drone-related equipment on the Ukrainian side is losing efficiency, the Ukrainians immediately change something, the Commissioner explained.

He revealed that the Ukrainians have estimated that they need around four million drones to protect their 1,200 kilometers of front line next year.

Kubilius, himself a Lithuanian, thus made a quick calculation that Lithuania would need around three million drones in such a case. "I asked the Ukrainians for their advice. Should we start producing three million drones in Lithuania, or should we buy them and keep them in our own stocks? But their answer was very simple - that would be a big mistake, because every drone becomes obsolete over time," said the Commissioner. That is why it is more important to prepare teams of knowledgeable people, to store drone components in warehouses so that production can be ramped up quickly if needed.

Kubilius acknowledged that there are problems with European national decision-making, which is often too slow. There are also problems within the countries themselves. For example, in one EU Member State it takes four years to obtain all the permits to build a factory. "And if you now realize that Putin's threat is serious and you want to build a factory for munitions, you will only start after four years? (...) And then I joke - should we ask Putin to postpone his plans?" Kubilius asked rhetorically.

Many of the regulations - both domestic and European in general - have been put in place in peacetime, but if real aggression were to break out, time would be short. That is why we need to be prepared and think how to defend ourselves also in peacetime, Kubilius stressed.