‘The decision of the European Commission not to grant additional backing for the implementation of the "drone wall" will not importantly affect the improvement of this task for the defence of Estonia; the government has the means to do so, and the actions related to the detection of drones at the east border of the country will begin by the end of 2027," said MMA chief Igor Taro.
According to the Minister, the “drone wall” is an crucial component of the broad national defence.
Everything about the border is the highest priority, due to the fact that Ukrainian experience has shown how crucial it is to be able to detect and combat drones. It is simply a crucial infrastructure investment and if we want to prevent human losses as much as possible in the event of a possible military crisis, it is undoubtedly profitable
“Taro said in an EYR interview published on Wednesday.
Estonia received over €22 million from the EU
As he recalled, Estonia has received over €22 million from the EU under the Financial Support Facility for Border Management and Visa Policy. Most of these measures were decided to be allocated to anti-drone installations. At the end of last year, the government besides decided to support the task with EUR 12 million spread over 3 years.
According to the guidelines of the police department and border guards, installations and networks should be established within the framework of the ‘drone wall’ to detect and combat drones along the east border of Estonia, as well as in the 4 largest cities of the country: Tallinn, Narwie, Tartu and Parnawie.
The "drone wall" initiative was announced last spring by countries bordering Russia – Baltic countries, Poland and Finland and Norway. Estonia, as the main applicant for EU funding, requested EUR 4 million.
nt/PAP
