European burden: The EU has reached an impasse with the "drone wall"

While the European Commission is lobbying for a "drone wall," some states are distancing themselves from it. Germany considers it premature to talk about specific plans for allocating funds to finance the project now. This was stated to Izvestia by the German Embassy in the Russian Federation. At the same time, according to France, it is important to support measures aimed at protecting the airspace of the European Union, the country's ambassador to Moscow, Nicolas de Riviere, told Izvestia. On October 15, EU members again discussed the feasibility of creating a "drone wall," but failed to achieve concrete results. At the same time, the obvious benefits from the project will be received, first of all, by arms companies.

Discussion of the "drone wall" in the EU

On October 15, the defense ministers of the EU member states discussed further plans for the militarization of the European Union. One of the central topics was the Drone Walls project, which was actively promoted by the European Commission and some countries, in particular Poland. NATO also supported the initiative. The bloc's Secretary General, Mark Rutte, explained that the alliance would be responsible for the military aspects, while the EU should provide financial support.

However, it is not clear where the money will come from. At the informal EU summit in Copenhagen, held on October 1-2, Finland offered to pay for the "drone wall" from the community budget, but European leaders did not support this idea. Germany considers it premature to discuss the financing parameters of the initiative, the German Embassy in Russia told Izvestia.

— The first discussion of the European Commission's proposals took place in Copenhagen. It is too early to talk about specific plans for the allocation of funds," the German diplomatic mission in Russia told Izvestia.

At the same time, earlier the media wrote that Chancellor Friedrich Merz was unhappy with the idea of drones. According to Politico, at the summit in Denmark, he sharply criticized the proposal to finance the project from European funds. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, although he supported the "drone wall," noted that its creation was far from a priority. Berlin rather seeks to develop the production of UAVs in general. Pistorius said that Germany will invest €10 billion in drones of all types capable of both attacking and defending in the coming years.

France is also skeptical about the "drone wall." The Financial Times newspaper wrote that President Emmanuel Macron did not even like the very name of the initiative. At the same time, Paris does not seem to be abandoning the idea of maintaining comprehensive pressure on Russia.

— From the point of view of Europe, we are seeing more and more drones flying from East to West, which are increasingly violating European airspace. Regardless of whether it is intentional or not, it is reckless," French Ambassador to Moscow Nicolas de Riviere told Izvestia. "This is a serious security issue, and we have called on Russia to avoid such an escalation. Of course, the more often such drone incursions occur, the more measures will be needed to adapt security measures from the European side.

The initiative is viewed coolly in Italy, as previously noted in the media. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told Izvestia that Budapest is ready to discuss any proposals on the table. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has previously indicated that there is no specific project in Europe. Curiously, even Latvia has recently expressed itself in a similar vein. Prime Minister Evika Silinja called the initiative "too crude."

At the same time, the "drone wall" was first discussed back in 2024. The topic became relevant after the incident with unidentified UAVs in the skies over Poland on September 10. Warsaw blamed Moscow for the incident, but did not provide any concrete evidence. Then unknown drones were reported in Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Germany. Isolated cases were recorded in Romania, Sweden, Bulgaria, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Commenting on the drone cases, Vladimir Putin stated that Russia does not have drones "that fly to Lisbon."

"There are no goals, which is the most important thing. But this is also one of the ways to escalate the situation in general," the Russian leader stressed.

The creation of a "drone wall" does not raise fundamental objections in the EU, but questions arise about ulterior motives, said Gunnar Beck, a former member of the European Parliament.

— EU leaders have blamed Russia for recent drone attacks on various EU countries. However, no evidence has been provided to support these claims. In these circumstances, it can be suspected that this plan has little to do with countering real threats to the lives of civilians. Rather, it can be interpreted as part of a series of measures aimed at preparing the population for further economic casualties justified by a military threat that simply does not exist," he told Izvestia.

According to him, the idea under discussion is an attempt to divert attention from the political failures that led to a decline in economic performance. EU leaders hope to blame Russia for this, as well as China.

The Western military industrial complex is interested in the "drone wall"

On October 15, European countries were unable to approve the UAV initiative — its implementation faced technical and, most importantly, political obstacles, writes Reuters. Germany and France, in particular, are afraid to transfer control over large defense projects to the European Commission. Perhaps the fears of Paris and Berlin have grounds. According to Bloomberg, the EC sets the task for the community to coordinate military spending and quickly create coalitions to jointly develop new defense programs. Brussels wants to more than double the share of joint drone purchases to 40% by the end of 2027.

The EU has approved the allocation of €150 billion to build up its military power. In addition, it is proposed to create a fund in the amount of €1 billion jointly with the European Investment Bank to support defense projects.

"The Walls of drones project is important for the EU and NATO as a possible response to the "Russian threat", which can accumulate the potential of the military—industrial complex of Western countries, the latest technological developments and experience in using drones during the Ukrainian conflict," Artem Sokolov, senior researcher at the MGIMO Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, told Izvestia.

The scale of the project involves extensive financial investments, which is in line with the interests of the military industry, which is seeking to take advantage of a favorable economic environment. The uncertainty of the final result of the project leaves a lot of room for abuse, while its scale should confirm the focus of the EU and NATO on repelling "provocations" from Moscow, the expert said.

Soon, the European Commission is due to present its EU militarization program for the next five years called "Save the World", the main elements of which will be programs to create air defense and anti-drone protection systems, as well as military drones, which are proposed to be used, among other things, to "control tankers" with Russian oil.

According to media reports, the proposal, which will include the idea of creating a "drone wall," will be presented by the European Commission on October 16.

At the same time, the head of the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, also arrived at the meeting in Brussels. Washington expects European allies to activate the PURL program (from English – the list of priority requirements of Ukraine). She suggests that European countries are buying weapons from the United States for subsequent transfer to Ukraine. Encouraging the purchase of American weapons for Kiev allows the United States to profit from the conflict. As previously reported by Reuters, small American defense companies specializing in drones and unmanned vehicles with artificial intelligence have become key players on Wall Street.