“Drone wall” for EU should be built together with Ukraine - Kubilius
The European Union plans to actively involve Ukraine in creating a “wall against drones” on the eastern borders of the bloc, given Ukraine's extensive experience in shooting down Russian drones.
This was stated in an interview with Ukrinform by European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius.
"And that is why one of the recent very clear demands, of which the Commission President was speaking before and what we were discussing in the so-called frontier member states, when we visited them recently together with President von der Leyen, was what we call the Drone Wall. That’s for those frontier countries, and we need to make that Drone Wall together with Ukraine, and to include Ukraine into that project," Kubilius said.
According to him, the recent incident involving Russian drones entering Polish airspace showed that European countries' capabilities to defend against such attacks “need to be built up very quickly.”
“That is why we shall cooperate together with Ukraine in developing that very important project,” the European Commissioner stressed.
In his opinion, the EU needs to learn from Ukraine not only how to manufacture specific types of drones, but also “how to create an entire ecosystem around them in order to use these drones most effectively.”
Kubilius noted the reforms in the Ukrainian defense procurement system, which allows defense and security forces to order drones directly and purchase them fairly quickly.
“In Europe, if the government decides to procure drones, it can take two years. So, definitely, in the circumstances that you’re facing as you are defending yourself, that would be totally unacceptable,” the European Commissioner said.
In this context, Kubilius drew attention to the Brave Tech EU joint platform launched this summer, which will be used by European and Ukrainian startups to unite to develop new projects, test their weapons on the front lines, and enable Europeans to study the ecosystem created in Ukraine.
As reported by Ukrinform, on the night of September 10, the Polish military shot down drones that violated Polish airspace. In total, according to Poland, 21 Russian drones violated its airspace.
US President Donald Trump expressed the opinion that Russia's violation of Polish airspace could have been a “mistake.” However, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski responded to the US president that this attack was not a mistake.
At a Security Council meeting, Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the UN Andriy Melnyk criticized the international community's inaction regarding Russia's aggression, stressing that Moscow's escalation poses a threat of global war.
Photos from Ukrinform can be purchased here.