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Poland and the three Baltic states – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – have called for the EU to establish a jointly funded ground defence line on Europe’s eastern border.
“The EU’s external borders need to be protected and defended by military and civilian means and therefore special measures must be taken,” the four countries said in a joint letter seen by Euraactive.
The initiative is based on the Eastern Defense Line and the Baltic Defense Line, defense and infrastructure projects on the borders with Russia and Belarus that Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have launched over the past few years.
“The creation of a defense infrastructure system along the EU’s external borders with Russia and Belarus will address the desperate and urgent need to protect the EU from military and hybrid threats,” they added.
The letter did not elaborate on what exactly infrastructure means.
These threats refer to a combination of military and non-military actions, including disinformation, cyber attacks, economic pressure and the forced return of migrants who cross borders.
The joint appeal by Poland and the Baltic states comes as Russia steps up its hybrid operations against the West and as Western intelligence agencies increasingly warn of Russian espionage and sabotage threats across Europe.
Several European countries, including the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the United Kingdom, have recently investigated and prosecuted suspects who they suspect of spying for Russia or collaborating in some way with Russian intelligence.
The EU is also being asked to develop possible responses to increasing Russian hybrid and physical attacks on EU territory.
The effort “could also build on EU expertise and innovation in integrated border management, critical infrastructure protection, civil protection, crisis management and military mobility,” the letter said.
The four countries say planning and implementation should be coordinated with NATO and its military requirements.
This Eastward pressure, aimed at European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, came ahead of a meeting of EU leaders on Thursday (27 June).
EU leaders are expected to discuss funding for the bloc’s future defence needs, but the bloc’s defence spending plans are currently unclear.
Since Russia’s war in Ukraine began, EU member states have been vocal about the need for more financial resources for defense.
But the European Commission is struggling to finalise plans that include “innovative solutions” to finance the bloc’s defence industry, pending a needs assessment to justify the proposed €500 billion fund.
“Given the scale and cost of this joint effort, the EU needs to take extraordinary action to support it politically and financially,” the four countries warned in the letter.
EU diplomats estimate the cost of building such a defense infrastructure line along the EU’s 700-kilometer border with Russia and Belarus to be around 2.5 billion euros.
Wednesday’s call follows earlier efforts by Poland and Greece calling for the creation of an EU air defense system modelled on Israel’s Iron Dome.
“The main idea is to coordinate the air defence systems currently operated separately by EU member states in order to better protect the EU from military threats and other malign activities along its borders with Russia and Belarus.”
[Edited by Alice Taylor]
Read more at Euractiv
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