Poland and Baltic states request defence line on border with Russia and Belarus

Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia called on the European Union on Wednesday, 26 June to build a defence line along their border with Russia and Belarus to protect the EU from military threats and other harmful actions from Moscow. Source: Reuters Details: In a letter addressed to both European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, which will be discussed at the summit in Brussels on Thursday, the leaders of the four countries bordering Russia and Belarus emphasised that the project, designed to protect the 27-nation bloc and its 450 million citizens, will also require financial support from all member states.

Quote: "Building a defence infrastructure system along the EU external border with Russia and Belarus will address the dire and urgent need to secure the EU from military and hybrid threats."

More details: Hybrid threats encompass a mix of military and non-military tactics, both covert and overt, including disinformation, cyberattacks, economic pressure and the movement of migrants across borders. The letter says the scope and cost of these collective efforts demand specific EU measures for their political and financial backing.

Some EU diplomats have estimated the cost of building such a defence line along the EU's 700-kilometre border with Russia and Belarus to be around EUR2.5 billion (US£2.67 billion). European investment in defence and its funding will be a central topic of discussion among EU leaders at the summit, as Russia's war against Ukraine has entered its third year and Moscow is intensifying its hybrid operations against the West.

The call for joint funding of a land defence line on the EU's eastern border follows a previous Greek and Polish initiative to establish an EU air defence system modelled after Israel's Iron Dome, which would coordinate the currently separate air defence systems of EU member states.

The letter pointed out that the planning and construction of the defence line on the EU's eastern border should be coordinated with NATO and its military requirements.

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