Ukraine should join the creation of a "drone wall" on the EU border – European Commissioner

The European Union intends to involve Ukraine in the project of creating a so-called anti-drone wall on the bloc's eastern borders, using Ukrainian experience in countering Russian drones. European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

"One of the recent very clear demands that the President of the European Commission previously spoke about and that we discussed in the so-called border member states that we recently visited together with Ursula von der Leyen was the so-called anti-drone wall. In these border countries, we need to create an 'anti-drone wall' together with Ukraine and include Ukraine in this project," Andrius Kubilius said.

The impetus for the intensification of work was the incident with the incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace, which demonstrated the need to quickly strengthen protection against such attacks. The European Commissioner stressed that cooperation with Ukraine in this direction is key.

He noted that Europe should adopt from Ukraine not only the technologies for producing individual types of drones, but also the approach to creating a comprehensive infrastructure for their effective use.

"For example, when we talk about the anti-drone wall, we need to learn in Ukraine not only to produce some specific types of drones, for example long-range ones, almost like the Flamingo, because producing a drone is only half the battle. It is very important to learn to create an entire ecosystem around it in order to use these drones most effectively. This is what we need to learn," the European Commissioner noted.

Kubilius cited the Ukrainian defense procurement system as an example, which allows units of the Defense and Security Forces to directly order and quickly receive drones. For comparison, in EU countries the process of purchasing drones by the government can take up to two years, which, according to the commissioner, is unacceptable in conditions of military threat.

In this context, Kubilius also mentioned the Brave Tech EU platform, launched in the summer. It brings together Ukrainian and European startups to develop new projects, test weapons on the front lines, and allow Europeans to explore the ecosystem created in Ukraine.

Recall that Andrius Kubilius, back in July of this year, called on Lithuania and neighboring Baltic countries to create a joint defense system based on unmanned technologies.