Strengthening Europe’s Eastern Flank: EU Outlines New Budget Measures

The European Commission plans to allocate additional funding to EU countries on the eastern border with Russia and Belarus to strengthen defense and counter constant geopolitical, military, and hybrid threats.

The Gaze reports on it, referring to Ukrinform and LRT, citing a press conference in Lithuania.

During her visit to Lithuania as part of her trip to the eastern flank countries, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed that Europe stands together with countries bordering Russia and Belarus, which face constant geopolitical, economic, and military threats.

“When Lithuania is tested, all of Europe is tested. We stand with you in every way possible,” she said, commenting on the recent violation of the Lithuanian border by unmanned aerial vehicles from Belarus.

Von der Leyen said that the new long-term EU budget provides for a threefold increase in spending on migration and border protection, and countries directly bordering Russia and Belarus will receive additional funding.

She noted that protecting European borders is a shared responsibility of all EU countries. “Of course, we must act now. We have two instruments at our disposal: the SAFE instrument and national budgets,” Leyen added, stressing the need for urgent measures.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, in turn, stressed that the visit of the EC President is a sign of European solidarity and demonstrates the determination to strengthen the Union's external borders.

“Today's meeting demonstrates our shared determination to protect the EU's eastern border and increase the resilience of Europe as a whole,” the president told the EC president at a press conference.

He noted that in order to ensure the safety of its population, Lithuania must be able to detect and, if necessary, shoot down unmanned aerial vehicles crossing the border in a timely manner. 

“Lithuania understands that the current situation is extremely dangerous and very fragile, and we must be able to detect unidentified unmanned aerial vehicles that occasionally cross our border and shoot them down if necessary,” Nausėda stressed.

As The Gaze reported earlier, European leaders are set to convene in Paris on September 4 to advance high-level discussions on potential security guarantees for Ukraine.