In latest weeks, drones have violated Polish, Romanian, Danish and Norwegian airspace, with Europe casting blame on Russia in most of the instances. These incidents gave new momentum to a so-called drone wall — an initiative first pitched by frontline international locations final 12 months and backed by von der Leyen in her State of the Union handle final month.
Earlier this week, nevertheless, German Protection Minister Boris Pistorius stated there have been extra pressing priorities to sort out. “Drone protection, after all, however not by a drone wall,” he instructed an viewers on the Warsaw Safety Discussion board.
The drone wall debate additionally underscores how geography usually results in disagreements amongst European leaders concerning how greatest to guard the continent from exterior threats, together with Russia — and people divisions have been on present in Copenhagen as leaders entered the summit.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned about not forgetting Europe’s southern flank, a message echoed by her Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
“Any frequent European protection challenge regarding Europe can’t be restricted to the continent’s japanese borders,” he instructed reporters.
In the meantime, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda praised the challenge forward of the Copenhagen assembly, highlighting a transparent divide between frontline nations and international locations farther from the Russian and Ukrainian borders.
