A group of nations, including Poland, the Baltic states, Norway, and Finland, have agreed to create a “drone wall” aimed at safeguarding their collective borders.
To construct this drone wall, participating countries will use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to surveil their border regions, alongside implementing anti-drone systems to intercept drones utilized by hostile entities for smuggling and provocations.
The information was relayed by Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė on Friday, following her meeting with counterparts from the other two Baltic states (Latvia and Estonia), as well as Poland, Finland, and Norway.
She told Lithuanian media outlet BNS: “This is a completely new thing – a drone wall stretching from Norway to Poland – and the goal is to use drones and other technologies to protect our borders [...] against provocations from unfriendly countries and to prevent smuggling.”
Moving forward, the countries will evaluate the necessary measures, and subsequently, with expert assistance, national authorities will formulate a plan for implementing the “drone wall.”
Although Bilotaitė couldn’t provide a timeline for the implementation of the concept, she highlighted the possibility of utilizing EU funds for establishing this initiative.
She also stated that the ministers agreed to coordinate joint evacuation drills across the participating countries.
She said: “We agreed to hold regional drills to ensure the evacuation of the population, to see how our institutions are prepared to work, to interact with each other, what our capacity is to accommodate people, what the capacity of other countries is, whether they are ready to receive a certain number of our people.”
She added: “We still have a lot of questions; we need to look at all those algorithms. Drills would be very valuable as we would look at things, evaluate them and we would strengthen our preparedness.”
An EU evacuation mission is currently evaluating Lithuania’s preparedness, with its recommendations anticipated by June. The development comes after Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said earlier this month that Poland had signed a contract to join the European Sky Shield Initiative, which currently includes 21 countries.
The information was relayed by Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė on Friday, following her meeting with counterparts from the other two Baltic states (Latvia and Estonia), as well as Poland, Finland, and Norway.
She told Lithuanian media outlet BNS: “This is a completely new thing – a drone wall stretching from Norway to Poland – and the goal is to use drones and other technologies to protect our borders [...] against provocations from unfriendly countries and to prevent smuggling.”
According to Bilotaitė, Lithuania has already taken steps to enhance border protection through the utilization of drones. She emphasized that Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service has recently established a UAV unit and is currently in the process of procuring additional drones and anti-drone systems.Several EU countries agreed to build a "drone wall" on the border with Russia
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) May 25, 2024
Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite announced this after a meeting with the interior ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Poland, and Norway.
"This is a completely new thing - a wall of… pic.twitter.com/q1BSL8opt9
Moving forward, the countries will evaluate the necessary measures, and subsequently, with expert assistance, national authorities will formulate a plan for implementing the “drone wall.”
Although Bilotaitė couldn’t provide a timeline for the implementation of the concept, she highlighted the possibility of utilizing EU funds for establishing this initiative.
She also stated that the ministers agreed to coordinate joint evacuation drills across the participating countries.
She said: “We agreed to hold regional drills to ensure the evacuation of the population, to see how our institutions are prepared to work, to interact with each other, what our capacity is to accommodate people, what the capacity of other countries is, whether they are ready to receive a certain number of our people.”
She added: “We still have a lot of questions; we need to look at all those algorithms. Drills would be very valuable as we would look at things, evaluate them and we would strengthen our preparedness.”
An EU evacuation mission is currently evaluating Lithuania’s preparedness, with its recommendations anticipated by June. The development comes after Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said earlier this month that Poland had signed a contract to join the European Sky Shield Initiative, which currently includes 21 countries.
Source: LRT.It, TVP World
