Latvia, neighboring countries request additional EU funding for border protection

VILNIUS - Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, and Poland on Friday sent a joint letter to the European Commission requesting additional funding for the protection of the European Union's (EU) external borders.

The letter addressed to Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, and Magnus Brunner, European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, aims to draw the Commission's attention to the security threats posed by recent airspace violations, emphasizing the need to strengthen airspace surveillance systems, drones, and anti-drone capabilities.

The European Commission is being asked to include the strengthening of such capabilities in the thematic priorities of the Internal Affairs Fund for the current EU funding period 2021-2027, said the Lithuanian Interior Ministry.

"We are grateful to the Commission for the assistance and support it has provided so far, but the security challenges in our region are not diminishing. Recently, Lithuania and other countries in our region, which protect the EU's external border, have been facing airspace violations. In order to ensure adequate airspace protection, it is necessary to invest in modern anti-drone equipment, which requires additional funding," said Lithuanian Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovic.

Two Russian-made Gerbera drones crossed into the Lithuanian airspace from Belarus in July. One of them was carrying two kilograms of explosives.

Following these incidents, Lithuania's defense and foreign ministers sent a joint letter to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, urging allies to deploy counter-drone capabilities in the country.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene has expressed hope that NATO will allocate additional capabilities after the Alliance's experts finish assessing Lithuania's airspace surveillance system.

The letter from the five countries also states that these countries have been facing illegal migration orchestrated by the non-democratic Belarusian regime for more than four years.

The influx of irregular migrants into the EU's eastern member states from Belarus began in 2021 and is blamed by the West on the Minsk regime.

According to the Lithuanian Interior Ministry, the support previously provided by the Commission has helped to achieve "tangible results in strengthening the protection of the EU's external borders, improving migration management, increasing resilience and preparedness, improving response capabilities, and strengthening the security of the Special Transit Scheme (Kaliningrad)".

"Investment in border security in Eastern Europe is not only in the national interest, but also in the common interest of all EU Member States - this is a necessary condition for strengthening the common EU security architecture," said the Lithuanian Interior Ministry.