European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will visit Lithuania on the 26th of May to discuss a series of drone incidents in Baltic airspace, Politico reports.
Von der Leyen is expected to meet with Baltic leaders to help them come up with a united response. EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius will also travel to Lithuania.
In addition to showing solidarity with the Baltic states, officials will focus on talks on strengthening their common defense capabilities through EC funding and planning schemes during the visit.
Lithuania declared an air alert on the 20th of May after a drone was detected flying off course into its airspace from Belarus, and fighter jets from NATO’s Baltic Air Patrol mission were scrambled. In Latvia, airspace was repeatedly declared in certain regions last week, while fighter jets shot down one drone over Estonia. Von der Leyen said in a social media post last week that
Russia’s open threat to the Baltic states was unacceptable,
and that Russia and Belarus bear direct responsibility for directing the drones. They are endangering the people of NATO’s eastern flank, and Europe will respond to the incident with unity and force.
All three Baltic states have warned that Moscow is trying to capitalize on the drone incidents to drive a wedge between Ukraine and its allies. In a joint statement, the leaders of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania condemned Russia’s brazen disinformation campaign and the Kremlin’s fabricated version that the Baltic states are allowing their airspace to be used for hostilities against Moscow.
In February, the EU launched a plan to strengthen the bloc’s border states to combat concerns that Russia’s war in Ukraine and hybrid attacks are damaging their economies. The EC is working on plans to strengthen national air defence capabilities through joint procurement and development schemes.
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