The Baltic states on Sunday announced plans along with Norway, Finland and Poland to build a “drone wall” along their shared borders with Russia.
Estonian Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets said the technology is capable of detecting and repelling drones, adding that his country plans to install the barrier along its entire eastern border as well as around its main cities.
“As we can see on the Ukrainian front, there is a constant technological race between adversaries and new ways to use drones in war. The same goes for the various drones that people have access to. Being even a small step ahead of the opponent leads to greater success, but this success can be measured in days, as countermeasures are discovered at an alarming rate for each measure, and the cycle continues,” Läänemets said.
“There is no doubt whether this is necessary, as even the smallest drones have already proven their effectiveness as reconnaissance and offensive weapons,” he added.
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The Baltic states on Sunday announced plans alongside Norway, Finland and Poland to build a “drone wall” along their shared borders with Russia.
The announcement comes days after Russia itself announced that it plans to change its maritime borders in the Baltic Sea. Lithuania's foreign minister responded last week, calling it a “clear escalation” that must be met with an “appropriately firm response.”
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The Russian Defense Ministry suggested updating the coordinates used to measure the strip of territorial waters off its continental coast and that of its islands in the Baltic Sea. The existing coordinates were approved in 1985, the ministry says, adding that they were “based on small-scale nautical navigation maps” and do not correspond to the “modern geographic situation.”
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen attends a news conference near the border with Russia in Virolahti, Finland, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. As the war in Ukraine continues, borders are also being reinforced in the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. as in Finland and Poland. (Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva via AP)
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Russia had signed a United Nations convention that regulates how to make such changes. “Both we and Finland assume that Russia, which is a signatory party to that convention, fulfills that responsibility,” he said, according to the Swedish news agency TT.
If the Russians were to challenge the borders, “then Russia violates a UN convention, then Russia has the whole world against it,” Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said, according to Finnish broadcaster YLE.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters there was “nothing political” in the Defense Ministry's proposal. (Getty Images)
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters there was “nothing political” in the Defense Ministry's proposal.
“We see tensions and the level of confrontation increasing, especially in the Baltic region. This requires appropriate measures by our relevant bodies to ensure our security,” Peskov said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
