A Drone Wall on the Eastern Flank

The European Union wants to prevent the Russian drones from entering its airspace

Bogdan Matei, 02.10.2025, 14:00

The Europeans are taking a stand after the airspace of their countries has been violated by Russian planes and drones. In Tulcea county, south-eastern Romania, located on the Danube border with Ukraine, invaded by Russian troops, night alerts prompted by the presence of unauthorized flying objects have become familiar.

Last month the Polish army hesitated to shoot down a Russian drone swarm, which violated its airspace.

Another country, which saw its airspace violated by Moscow’s aircraft, was Estonia. Heads of state and government from EU countries convened on Wednesday in Copenhagen, Denmark, a country, which had a similar experience of airspace violation, in an informal summit aimed at strengthening joint defence capabilities and providing additional support to Ukraine.

Mette Frederiksen, the head of the Danish government, who hosted the event, says a strong response was needed against Russia’s hybrid aggression. She urged the Europeans to rearm and prove innovative, when it comes to defence.

“I hope that everybody recognizes now that there is a hybrid war, and one day it’s Poland, the other day it’s Denmark and the next day it will probably be somewhere else that we see sabotage or…drones flying. I think we are in the most difficult and dangerous situation since the second world war. “

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, says that Russia will not succeed in sowing division and anxiety inside the union.

“If we all agree that Ukraine is our first line of defense, we have to step up military support for Ukraine. This is the reason why today we are disbursing 4 billion Euros for Ukraine, 2 billion euros of that will be invested in drones and we have to increase pressure on Russia. And this is why I have proposed reparation loans for Ukraine on the basis of the immobilized Russian assets. We are not confiscating the assets, but we are taking the cash balances for a loan to Ukraine. Ukraine has to pay back this loan if Russia pays reparations. Russia is the perpetrator. It has caused the damage, and it has to be held accountable,” von der Leyen said.

The head of the European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, has also mentioned the need to use the Russian assets for a compensation loan to Ukraine.

(bill)