Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia called on the European Union on Wednesday to build a defense line along the bloc’s border with Russia and Belarus to protect the EU from military threats and other harmful activities from Moscow.
In a letter to the EU president to be discussed at a summit in Brussels starting Thursday, the leaders of the four countries bordering Russia and Belarus said the project to protect the 27-member bloc of 450 million people would also need financial support from all members.
“Building a defense infrastructure system along the EU’s external border with Russia and Belarus will address the dire and urgent need to secure the EU against military and hybrid threats,” reads the letter from the four leaders seen by Reuters reporters.
Hybrid threats refer to a combination of military and non-military as well as covert and overt means, including disinformation, cyber-attacks, economic pressure and pushing migrants across borders.
“The scale and costs of this joint venture require committed action from the EU to support it both politically and financially,” the letter said.
Some EU diplomats have estimated the cost of building such a defense line on the ground along the EU’s 700 km long border with Russia and Belarus at around 2.5 billion euros.
European defense investments and their financing will be one of the main topics of discussion among EU leaders at the summit, as Russia’s war against Ukraine enters its third year and Moscow steps up hybrid operations against the West.
The call for a jointly funded land defense line on the EU’s eastern border comes on top of a previous initiative by Greece and Poland to create an EU air defense system, modeled after Israel’s Iron Dome, that would coordinate the EU countries’ now separate air defense systems.
“It is necessary to apply emergency measures because the external borders of the EU must be protected and defended by military and civilian means,” reads the letter from the four countries.
The letter states that the planning and execution of the defense line on the EU’s eastern border should be carried out in coordination with NATO and its military requirements, Klix.ba writes.
