Europe was facing a greater danger from the threat posed by Russia than any time during the Cold War, Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen has said, as EU leaders returned to discussions about the continent’s defences.
A summit of the EU’s 27 leaders debated new proposals to develop a so-called “drone wall” that would jam or shoot down military drones from Russia or its allies crossing into the EU’s airspace.
Ms Frederiksen, who was hosting the summit in Copenhagen, said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatened all of Europe.
“I think we are in the most difficult and dangerous situation since the end of the second World War,” she told reporters on Wednesday.
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Recent incursions of Russian drones into Poland, plus suspicions the Kremlin was behind drones that shut down several Danish airports in the days before the summit, cast a shadow over the discussions.
“There is a hybrid war, one day it is Poland, the other it is Denmark and next week it will probably be somewhere else that we see sabotage, or we see drones flying,” Ms Frederiksen said.
Speaking on his way into the summit, French president Emmanuel Macron said it was clear Europe was being “tested” by Russia.
While he said he was “cautious” of attributing blame for the drones that shut down Danish airports, instances of interference in other countries had been traced to the Kremlin.
“It means that we have to improve our equipment collectively and co-operate to have early warning systems and anti-drone systems,” said the French president.
Earlier this year EU states agreed to significantly increase the amount spent on defence and their militaries, to deter Russia from contemplating any attack on the 27-state bloc.
Focus is turning to how the extra investment put aside for defence can be best spent. That will include EU states partnering in groups on projects such as the mooted drone wall and joint purchases of military equipment.
Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda said plans and “documents” would not defend EU borders from drones coming from Russia or its ally, Belarus. “We need actions,” he said.
Leaders also went back and forth on a suggestion to use Russian financial assets, frozen in the EU under a sanctions regime, to finance a €140 billion loan to fund Ukraine’s war effort.
Belgium and Luxembourg are opposed to the idea because they feel it amounts to confiscating those frozen Russian assets in breach of international law.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine would have to repay the loan if Russia paid compensation for the destruction caused by the war.
The loan would fill a funding shortfall Kyiv is likely to face from the middle of next year, estimated to be about €130 billion, without EU capitals having to pick up the cost.
“There is a growing consensus among us that it’s not only the European taxpayers that should pay for the support to Ukraine, but that Russia has to be held accountable,” said Dr von der Leyen.
“We are not confiscating the assets, but we are taking the cash balances for a loan to Ukraine. Ukraine has to pay back this loan if Russia pays reparations,” said the German politician.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said Ukraine needed significant financial support and it was inevitable that some “recourse” would be made to look at Russia’s frozen assets “in some shape or form”.
The EU summit will be followed on Thursday by a meeting of the European Political Community, a wider forum that brings together the presidents or prime ministers of nearly 50 European states.
