On Tuesday 26 May, the presidents of the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) called on the European Union to step up its efforts to help these countries protect their borders. Last week, the Baltic States suffered drone incursions into their airspace.
“We must speak not only about isolated incidents, but about a new security reality in Europe. The skies above the Baltic States are not sufficiently secure today”, stressed the Lithuanian President, Gitanas Nausėda, from Vilnius, alongside his Baltic counterparts and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. She said that the incidents of recent days exposed Europe’s vulnerabilities.
“What is happening at the eastern border is not merely a problem for the Baltic States. It is a test of the security of the entire European Union. Europe must demonstrate that it is capable of defending its border, its citizens, and its freedom. And I have no doubt that it will do so”, added Gitanas Nausėda.
The Baltic presidents called for a calm, coordinated but firm response, and for swifter, more concrete action. “We agree that the European Union must significantly accelerate efforts to strengthen security on its eastern flank”, stressed the Lithuanian President. In his view, it is imperative to implement the Eastern Flank Watch Initiative as quickly as possible, “including enhanced airspace surveillance, counter-drone systems, air defence, military mobility, and situational awareness across the entire eastern flank”.
In addition, there is an urgent need to strengthen the European drone defence initiative. “We need modern radar systems, sensors, interception systems, and close regional coordination”, explained Gitanas Nausėda.
“The urgent priority is strengthening multilayered drone detection and air defence capabilities. European defence projects of common interest, especially the Eastern Flank Watch, need to become a reality much faster. We count on increased EU support for this”, added the Estonian President, Alar Karis, adding that cooperation between the European and Ukrainian defence industries also needed to be stepped up.
Ursula von der Leyen called for more unified warning systems and better cross-border coordination. “The Eastern Flank Watch flagship must become a central pillar of Europe’s security architecture”, she explained. According to the Commission President, national systems also need to be better connected, in particular with Copernicus and Galileo, to enable better cross-border information sharing and increased early warning capacity. “We could initiate – in full coordination with NATO – a comprehensive assessment of existing counter-drone and early-warning systems across the region so that we can identify critical gaps together and then accelerate support where it is most needed and fill these gaps”, she proposed.
Protecting critical infrastructures is just as essential, explained the Lithuanian President, calling for energy networks, interconnections, communication systems and transport infrastructures to be protected against hybrid and physical threats.
Ursula von der Leyen also called for thought to be given to drawing up a protocol for hybrid attack situations, such as hybrid attacks and cyber attacks, foreign interference and disinformation. In her view, such a protocol “would enable rapid mobilisation of all available EU instruments”.
In the longer term, the presidents called for the next Multiannual Financial Framework to also help border regions. “The regions that are currently on the front line of European security must receive adequate European attention and investment. The social, demographic, and economic dimensions of these regions must be properly reflected”, said Gitanas Nausėda. His Latvian counterpart, Edgars Rinkēvičs, called for the development of more instruments to encourage economic life in border regions, “because each and every incident has some impact that we need also to reassure people living there that we, as the national governments and also the European Union, take good care of them”.
The President of the European Commission pointed out that funds were available to the Baltic States, in particular €12 billion through the ‘SAFE’ instrument. In addition, the Commission has reallocated €1.5 billion from the Cohesion Fund to the Baltic States for defence preparedness, border surveillance and economic security.
Finally, the Presidents called for continued support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)