The EU's Defense Chief Andrius Kubilius is in Finland to meet Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen in Helsinki. But he will also hold a digital meeting with ministers and officials from countries along the EU's eastern edge.
The topic is given: how can the EU protect itself against uninvited drones?
These drones must be detected, and then secondly: what are we going to do to strike back at them?, says Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier about the setup before the meeting.
Topic at the summit
The word drone shield has been frequently repeated by other EU leaders lately. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has promised a discussion on the topic already at next week's informal EU summit in Copenhagen.
However, it is still very early in the planning. Friday's meeting will primarily go through what the border countries are already doing and what they need.
We are not starting from scratch. The member states have capacities already. Let's see what they can put on the table, and if they want to. And let's see what the Commission can contribute, says Regnier.
For the EU's part, it is mainly about what type of economic support can be given to the development of both countermeasures and better ways to detect drones.
Ukrainian expertise
Participants in the meeting are Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria, as well as the presiding country Denmark.
Ukraine is also participating – with regard to the country's special expertise in the area.
We all know that Ukraine has enormous capacities and advanced knowledge when it comes to detecting drones, says Regnier.
Along the EU's eastern border, not least cheap and mass-produced ways to strike against uninvited flying objects are being sought.
I don't need hyper-advanced capability that I can only fire once, against targets that attack in hundreds. We must learn this game, says Estonia's Defense Chief Andrus Merilo to the news agency AP.
