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<\/p>\nThe European Union has unveiled a strategy to bolster its defences, to be fully operational by the decade’s end, amidst concerns over Russian incursions.<\/p>\n
A key component is the “European Drone Defense Initiative,” to detect, track, and neutralise rogue drones, following troubling airspace violations across Europe, some near Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian borders.<\/p>\n
Complementing this is “Eastern Flank Watch,” a scheme to fortify its eastern frontier across land, Baltic and Black seas, air, and against hybrid attacks.<\/p>\n
Initial operation for both is December next year, the drone system fully functional by late 2027 and Eastern Flank Watch in full swing by the end of 2028.<\/p>\n
Separate air and space shields are also envisioned.<\/p>\n
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, emphasised the urgency, stating: “Over the next few years, there must be a major buildup of European defense capabilities.”<\/p>\n
She added: “Russia has no capacity to launch an attack on the European Union today, but it could prepare itself in the years to come. Danger will not disappear, even if the war in Ukraine will end.”<\/p>\n
A new defense \u2018road map\u2019<\/p>\n
High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas speaks during a news conference (Associated Press)<\/p>\n
The commission will submit its Defense Readiness Roadmap 2030 \u2014 essentially a check list of equipment for national governments to buy and deadlines to respect over the next five years \u2014 to the 27 EU leaders for their feedback at a summit in Brussels<\/a> next week.<\/p>\n The early signs are positive. The issue was chewed over by the leaders in Copenhagen<\/a> in early October, and their positions on how to respond to the incidents blamed on Russia have hardened.<\/p>\n \u201cEuropeans must take more responsibility of their own in defense capability,\u201d German Chancellor Friederick Merz said on Thursday, hours before the \u201croad map\u201d was unveiled. \u201cEurope must coordinate more closely and act with more determination, and quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n The plan will require substantial funding and budgets are tight.<\/p>\n
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