Prior to this week's top meetings in Copenhagen, the EU Commission invited NATO's Secretary General Mark Rutte to Tuesday's weekly meeting in Brussels. Not least, it is about the "drone wall" that has become increasingly relevant after the recent violations of airspace in NATO and EU countries.
–We must act now. Europe must deliver a strong and united response to Russia's drone intrusions over our borders. Therefore, we will propose immediate measures to create a drone wall, said von der Leyen in a brief press appearance together with Rutte before the meeting.
She also promised more help to Ukraine.
–We have agreed with Ukraine that a total of 2 billion euros will be spent on drones now. This will enable Ukraine to increase, use its full capacity and it will also help the EU to benefit from this technology, said von der Leyen without going into details about where the money comes from.
The EU Commission hopes to be able to use over 150 billion euros from frozen Russian assets for a "reparations loan" to Ukraine. Exactly how this will work in practice and legally is not yet clear, which has made several EU countries hesitant.
