European defence ministers held talks on Friday on a proposed “drone wall” to counter mounting airspace violations along NATO’s eastern frontier, amid a spate of recent incidents stretching from Poland to Denmark.
Officials from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland — the quintet that first advanced the idea — were joined by counterparts from Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, with representatives from Ukraine and NATO also dialling in. The meeting was chaired by EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius and focused on mapping existing counter-UAS assets, identifying gaps, and establishing a joint response concept for small, hard-to-detect drones. EU leaders are expected to take up the conclusions at a summit in Copenhagen on Wednesday.
The renewed push follows a series of incidents that exposed vulnerabilities in Europe’s low-altitude air picture. On 10 September, NATO aircraft were scrambled after multiple Russian drones penetrated Polish airspace, an expensive intercept against relatively low-cost platforms. Warsaw temporarily restricted air traffic while the response unfolded. Moscow denied deliberate wrongdoing.
Further north, Danish airports have repeatedly halted operations this week following suspected drone activity near runways and military facilities. Aalborg Airport closed twice in as many nights before reopening early on Friday, while earlier disruptions affected Copenhagen and Billund. Danish authorities described the pattern as a “hybrid attack”, though they have not attributed responsibility.
The “drone wall” concept — a layered network of sensors, electronic warfare suites and effectors along the EU’s eastern border — has been under discussion since Baltic and Nordic governments began integrating counter-drone measures into border security plans. An earlier joint request by Estonia and Lithuania for EU funding was rejected in March, but the Commission is now examining how to support a broader, coordinated effort across member states.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signalled political backing this month, urging the bloc to “heed the call of our Baltic friends and build a drone wall”. She framed the initiative as a shared European capability that can be “developed together, deployed together, and sustained together” to respond in real time. Von der Leyen also said €6 billion would be earmarked to establish a “drone alliance” with Ukraine, whose forces have made extensive use of unmanned systems in the war.
For ministries of defence, the immediate work is technical and financial. Friday’s discussion centred on improving detection and tracking of Class 1 and 2 systems — small quadcopters and fixed-wing drones that fly below traditional radar coverage — and on harmonising rules of engagement and incident reporting across borders. Officials also looked at options for shared procurement and interoperability standards, including for electronic attack (jamming), directed-energy and kinetic interceptors, as well as non-destructive capture tools for peacetime enforcement near civilian infrastructure.
Several member states have already increased national spending on counter-UAS research and deployment along the eastern flank. Baltic governments have financed testbeds and pilot projects with local industry, while Poland has integrated counter-drone drills into allied exercises. The Commission is reviewing whether existing instruments — such as defence industrial programmes and border management funds — can be tapped quickly to scale proven solutions.
The operational challenge is cost, volume and attribution. Small drones are cheap, proliferate rapidly and can be flown from sea or land with minimal signatures. Intercepting every incursion with fighter jets is unsustainable; equally, rules for neutralising suspicious drones near airports and critical sites vary widely across jurisdictions. Denmark is considering legislative changes to allow infrastructure operators to engage drones under defined conditions, reflecting a broader European debate about authorities and liabilities in grey-zone settings.
Ukraine’s participation in the talks underscores the battlefield lessons shaping Europe’s approach. Kyiv has pushed swarming, long-range and FPV drones at scale, forcing Russia to adapt air defence and electronic warfare. EU officials say cooperation with Ukraine on production, tactics and data could accelerate Europe’s own counter-UAS posture, though they emphasise the “drone wall” is intended for territorial protection within EU and NATO borders rather than for expeditionary missions.
Next steps hinge on finance and governance. Kubilius is expected to outline where EU money could be mobilised and how a common operational framework might work across 27 legal systems. While the initial focus is the frontier with Russia and Ukraine, Brussels wants standards and capabilities that any member state can adopt, citing recent incidents far from the front line. Whether allies also seek NATO frameworks — including potential consultations under Article 4, as floated in Denmark — will depend on how the threat picture evolves and on incident attribution.
For now, the political message is one of closing gaps quickly. As von der Leyen put it, the EU intends to “defend every inch” of its territory — including the hard-to-police airspace just above the treeline. The test will be turning that pledge into a coherent, affordable and legally robust perimeter against a fast-moving, low-cost technology.
