Baltic states reportedly request EU funds for drone defense

The Baltic states have secretly asked the European Commission for hundreds of millions of euros to boost their defense against drones, citing an alleged Russian threat, the Finnish newspaper Iltalehti has reported.

Moscow has repeatedly rejected claims that it has aggressive designs against Europe, saying that they are only made by Western politicians to scare the population at home and justify growing military spending. It maintains that a conflict is only possible if NATO members attack Russia.

Iltalehti said on Tuesday, citing foreign policy and security sources, that the defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had sent a letter to EU chief Ursula von der Leyen the previous day, asking Brussels to urgently provide them with €500 billion (around $570 million). There has been no public announcement about the request being made, it added.

The minister claimed that the funds are needed due to the possibility of Russia trying to test NATO’s resolve by carrying out drone strikes against the bloc’s eastern flank, the report read.

Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius expect a positive response from von der Leyen in a matter of weeks, with the money arriving by the end of the year, according to the sources.

Last week, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Russia could fire drones or missiles into NATO countries backing Ukraine in “the next few months.” Despite Tusk providing no proof to his claim, French President Emmanuel Macron described it as “sound and well-documented.”

On Tuesday, Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius told the BBC that his country feels “constantly threatened” by Russia because of drones entering its airspace.

Since spring, there have been a number of incidents of Ukrainian UAVs crossing into Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia or crashing in their territory as Kiev has intensified its long-range attacks on energy infrastructure in Leningrad Region in northwestern Russia.

The Baltic states claimed that the incursions happened because of the UAVs being diverted off course by Russian electronic warfare equipment. Moscow has warned Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius that it could act in accordance with its right to self-defense if it turns out that the three countries are knowingly providing their airspace to the Ukrainian military.

Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics claimed in an interview with the Kiev Independent the same day that his country is facing an “alarming” period due to possible Russian interference in the wake of an election on October 3.

On Wednesday, high-ranking Estonian Foreign Ministry official Jonatan Vseviov said that warnings of an alleged Russian attack on the Baltic states were “blown out of proportion.” According to Vseviov, Moscow “ultimately seeks… to change the entire European security architecture,” but it’s currently fully focused on the Ukraine conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that “some European leaders are openly declaring that they are preparing for war with Russia” in an attempt to “cover up mistakes in their economic and social policies.”

“Instead of stopping and listening to their citizens, who have made it clear during the elections that they don’t want any war with Russia, these leaders continue to escalate the situation,” Putin stressed.