The European Commission refused to allocate 500 million euros requested by Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to develop a common system for protecting against drones. Instead of free funding, Brussels directs the three countries to the SAFE instrument, which provides loans on soft terms.
The decision was confirmed by the European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius to the Lithuanian public media LRT. He pointed out that the possibilities for significant additional funding under the current budget programs are limited.
„There are almost no other very large funds in the European Union budget programs because the budget period is coming to an end“, said Kubilius.The plan of the three Baltic states
At the end of September, the defense ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, Robertas Kaunas, Martins Herem, and Raivis Melnis, sent a confidential letter to the European Commission. In it, they requested urgent support for strengthening defense against unmanned aerial vehicles.
The request is related to repeated incursions of drones into the airspace of the Baltic states this year. The idea is for the three countries to build a common system that combines drone detection, artificial intelligence and interception tools.
“Solutions in the field of air defense and countering drones are important not only for our region, but also for the whole of Europe. Lithuania has taken a leading role in developing an air defense system designed to counter drones“, Kaunas said.
What funding remains possible
According to LRT, the European Commission has identified SAFE as one of the possible funding mechanisms. After the first intake under the instrument, about 21 billion euros remain, and the Commission is preparing a new intake. On October 29, a resource of 21.3 billion euros was announced for defense projects, including air and missile defense, drones and countermeasures systems.
However, SAFE is not a grant, but a loan program. Its total resource amounts to 150 billion euros for defense investments in the European Union. The Baltic states are yet to decide whether and to what extent to use this mechanism for the regional anti-drone system.
LRT also reports on the possibility of part of the measures being financed through the Integrated Border Management Fund. However, the expected funds under this line are significantly less than the requested 500 million euros.
Sources: focus-news.net, lrt.lt, news.err.ee