The European Parliament has urged EU member states to take “co-ordinated, united and proportionate” measures against unlawful incursions into their airspace, including the option to shoot down airborne threats. The non-binding resolution was adopted in Strasbourg on 9 October by 469 votes to 97, with 38 abstentions.
MEPs condemned recent violations of EU and NATO airspace by Russian drones and aircraft, describing them as part of a wider pattern of hybrid activities targeting critical infrastructure and public safety. The text “encourages any initiative” that enables a joint response to airspace breaches, explicitly noting that action may include the destruction of hostile drones or aircraft. The resolution also welcomes the emerging EU concepts of a “drone wall” and the “Eastern Flank Watch” as elements of a broader layered defence on the Union’s eastern border.
The motion forms part of a wider push to harden Europe’s defences against low-cost unmanned systems and other grey-zone tactics. It calls on the Commission and Council to increase the effectiveness of sanctions on Russia and to apply similar restrictive measures to states enabling Moscow’s actions, listing Belarus, Iran and North Korea. It also urges sanctions on Chinese entities supplying dual-use goods and military items essential for drones and missiles.
On capability development, MEPs press for rapid progress on a multilayered air and missile defence architecture aligned with NATO planning, including urgent investment in drones and counter-drone technologies. The resolution highlights the need to consolidate the PESCO Integrated Multi-Layer Air and Missile Defence System project, and to boost the European Defence Agency’s role in joint procurement. It further calls for enhanced airspace coordination between civilian and military authorities and for better resourcing of police and civil agencies to detect and neutralise drones at sensitive locations such as airports and energy facilities.
Parliament links the measures to the EU’s defence roadmap now being prepared. The text asks the Commission to present a concrete plan for deploying the “drone wall” and the Eastern Flank Watch at the European Council meeting on 23–24 October in Brussels. That summit is expected to consider a 2030 defence-readiness roadmap following leaders’ discussions at an informal meeting in Copenhagen at the start of the month. An EPRS briefing notes that the Commission is to table its roadmap in mid-October, ahead of leaders reconvening later in the month.
The vote reflects increased concern over airspace incidents in several member states and partner countries in northern Europe. The Parliament’s press note cites incursions affecting Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania, and deliberate drone flights aimed at infrastructure in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. It states that Russia bears “full and unequivocal responsibility” for actions that took place in Polish, Estonian and Romanian airspace.
While the resolution is not legally binding, it signals political support for more robust national rules of engagement and for common standards across the EU and NATO’s eastern flank. Several capitals have already been tightening national frameworks. In Germany, for example, the federal cabinet has moved to authorise police to neutralise rogue drones, citing a sharp rise in incidents at sensitive sites and major airports; the measure awaits parliamentary approval.
MEPs also stress closer defence-industrial co-operation with Ukraine, urging joint ventures and licensing to draw on Kyiv’s experience in drone production and counter-UAV measures. The text calls for EU instruments such as SAFE and the Defence Equity Facility to scale manufacturing and to support small and medium-sized firms in the unmanned systems sector. Beyond airspace, it underlines the need to protect maritime infrastructure and to integrate counter-UAV strategies into wider security planning.
Sanctions policy remains central in Parliament’s approach. The resolution calls for a “robust” next package to target Russia’s revenues and to close loopholes used by intermediaries. In parallel, the Council last week prolonged a separate regime addressing Russian hybrid threats by one year, citing ongoing foreign information manipulation and other destabilising activity.
Attention now turns to the Commission’s detailed proposals and to the October European Council. The resolution asks for a coherent implementation plan for the drone wall at that meeting, and for work to accelerate on agreed capability coalitions under the Eastern Flank Watch umbrella. Any national downing of unlawful drones or aircraft would remain subject to domestic law and operational command, but the Parliament’s position sets out a political baseline for collective readiness and common deterrence across the Union.
European ministers weigh ‘drone wall’ as airspace incursions test eastern flank
