Photo. Marco / Pexels / Free to use,
A meeting of European Union defence ministers has taken place in Brussels. Agreements included, among others, additional funds for more effective anti-drone defence in the eastern part of the community.
During Monday’s summit of EU defence ministers, further forms of assistance for Ukraine, plans to strengthen the security of the EU’s eastern border, and the issue of further sanction restrictions against Russia were discussed.
The meeting of EU defence ministers resulted, among other things, in a decision to allocate €60 million (approx. $63 million) to the EDIP (European Defence Industry Programme) as part of the Eastern Flank Watch initiative. These funds will strengthen, for instance, the protection of member states against aerial threats. As noted by the Deputy Minister of National Defence, Paweł Zalewski, Poland is also seeking EU co-financing for military fuel pipelines, which in the near future would connect our country with the NATO network. It is worth noting that this network currently ends in Germany. The topic of expanding NATO’s fuel infrastructure, namely the CEPS (Central Europe Pipeline System) pipeline, returned to media attention in June this year.
“To end the war, we must first reduce Moscow’s ability to finance it,” said the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, who drew attention to more effective strikes against the Russian shadow fleet. As an example, she cited the actions of the EU Naval Operation IRINI, which has recently reportedly boarded at least six suspicious vessels. She added that national boarding operations should be continued in parallel with the mission’s activities.