Eastern European NATO States to Build “Drone Border” Against “Unfriendly Countries”
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – As Ukraine remains engaged in a fierce battle to resist the ongoing Russian invasion, NATO states in Eastern Europe are planning to use drones as means of protecting their borders against nearby “unfriendly countries” such as Russia and its ally Belarus, Newsweek reports. To this end, a number of states have stated they will exceed NATO’s two-percent target and commit more than 3% of their gross domestic product to defense.
The Kremlin’s belligerence against Ukraine and the West has only intensified since the invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022: the Russian military recently embarked on nuclear weapons drills in response to NATO powers’ determination to help the Ukrainians. Baltic states which used to be part of the Soviet Union have warned that Russia poses a threat to NATO states, especially those closest to the Russian Federation. Moreover, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that: “If Ukraine will not stand, Europe will not stand.”
Concerning the innovative use of establishing a “drone border” for protection against Russia, Lithuania’s Interior Minister, Agnė Bilotaitė said in a statement quoted by Newsweek. “This is a completely new thing—a drone border from Norway to Poland, the purpose of which would be to protect our border with the help of drones and other technologies. [The drones will] allow us to also protect ourselves from provocations by unfriendly countries, and prevent contraband.”
“As a venture of this scale, it’s unique,” Estonia’s Interior Minister Lauri Laanemets said in a separate statement quoted by Newsweek. “Drone surveillance and anti-drone capability is crucial both for deterrence and for countering the influence activities of our eastern neighbor.”
“As we see in the case of Ukraine, there is a constant race between the adversaries to develop technology, and new ways to use drones are continually being found in warfare,” Laanemets said.