The borders, especially the one dividing Poland and Belarus, have fallen under a constant hybrid attack that has come to be defined by the continuous flow of illegal migrants from Africa and Asia.
In response, the affected countries have implemented various measures to prevent these breaches, including constructing barriers and deploying additional border forces. However, these efforts have proven insufficient, prompting the leaders to issue the letter.
Its signatories, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa, and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, want the issue to be addressed at the EU summit starting Thursday in Brussels.
“Building a defense infrastructure system along the EU external border with Russia and Belarus will address the dire and urgent need to secure the EU from military and hybrid threats,” the letter reads.
“The scale and costs of this joint endeavor require a dedicated EU action to support it both politically and financially.”
According to the leaders, their countries’ initiatives to strengthen defense infrastructure on the border with Russia and Belarus can draw on the EU’s innovations in border management, critical infrastructure protection, civil protection, crisis management, or military mobility.
“Extraordinary measures need to be employed as the EU's external border must be protected and defended with military and civilian means,” the letter continues.
“In parallel to our support for Ukraine, we must take greater responsibility for our own security and defense. We must spend more on this and coordinate the Union’s defense initiatives with NATO, which remains the basis of collective defense,” the politicians wrote.
EU defense shield
On the eve of the summit, Tusk and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis presented a concept for financing a European air defense shield, an initiative they proposed in late May in a letter to the President of the EC.
The idea envisages a comprehensive air defense system that would protect the EU from threats such as aircraft, missiles, and drones.
Tusk and Mitsotakis suggested using existing instruments under PESCO defense cooperation, the European Defense Fund, the European Defense Agency, and the Horizon Europe program for research and development. They also urged the EC to explore joint financing options for air defense procurement, including through the new European Defense Industrial Program (EDIP).
The two-day European Council meeting begins on Thursday in Brussels. Heads of state and government will discuss strengthening defense cooperation, with European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen expected to present financing options.
The summit will also address filling top EU posts following the European Parliament elections.
