VILNIUS, Sept 23 (Reuters) – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have jointly asked the European Commission for additional financial support from the EU for drone fighting capabilities, Lithuania’s Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said in a statement to Reuters on Wednesday. With Ukraine stepping up long-range drone attacks on Russia, some of the drones have entered airspace in […]
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Baltic nations seek EU support to combat drones, Lithuania says
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VILNIUS, Sept 23 (Reuters) – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have jointly asked the European Commission for additional financial support from the EU for drone fighting capabilities, Lithuania’s Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said in a statement to Reuters on Wednesday.
With Ukraine stepping up long-range drone attacks on Russia, some of the drones have entered airspace in the Baltic region, stoking concerns that the war between Moscow and Kyiv is spilling over NATO’s borders.
Kaunas did not say how much money the countries had asked for.
Finnish daily Iltalehti reported that the three Baltic nations had asked for €500 million ($569.45 million).
“We are looking into procuring the capabilities jointly, with preference for the European defence industry. This strengthens both our resilience and the industry cooperation in Europe”, Kaunas said.
($1 = 0.8780 euros)
(Reporting by Andrius Sytas, writing by Louise Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik)