North NATO countries, Finland, Norway, Poland, and the Baltic countries plan to develop a "drone wall" to help protect their borders with Russia. This decision is prompted by a series of recent provocations: the organization of migrant flows and an attempt to change maritime borders. The governments of the countries have not provided information on how exactly the "wall" will work.
Ministers from the six countries stated that they discussed the creation of a coordinated drone system along their borders with Russia to prevent further provocations and aid in defense. Finland's Minister of Interior, Mari Rantanen, stated that the plan to create the drone wall will cover 1340 km of the border with Russia and will be improved over time. Lithuania's Minister of Interior, Agne Bilotaite, said that each country involved must do its "homework" and also suggested using EU funds.
Earlier, Russia published proposals for unilateral expansion of its maritime borders with Lithuania and Finland, but the plan was subsequently removed. A day later, Russian border guards removed 25 buoys from Estonian waters that marked the border, causing outrage and messages of support from NATO and several countries in Tallinn.
Many NATO countries believe that Russia may "test the strength" of NATO borders in the coming years, as intelligence services have detected a number of sabotage operations on their territory. Russia's war in Ukraine highlighted the importance of drones, as both sides actively use them. Several NATO countries have responded by creating or enhancing units to counter drones.
Six NATO countries also discussed plans to evacuate a significant portion of their population in case of conflict. Finnish officials expressed surprise that Ukraine keeps its civilian population on the front line or nearby, stating that their country's defense plans include evacuating border residents.
Source: Financial Times
Comments (0)
There are no comments for now