The EU’s plan to create a ‘drone wall’ is just PR – Bloomberg

The European plan to create a “drone wall” is essentially a PR move. Implementing the project could take years, and financing is already an issue.

This conclusion was reported by Bloomberg.

Since European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced last month that the EU would build a “drone wall,” Brussels has been scrambling to find ways to realize the project. EU leaders are expected to make progress on von der Leyen’s plan at an informal meeting in Copenhagen today, but due to funding problems, it will likely be delayed for many years.

“We’re not talking about a concept that will be implemented in the next three to four years, maybe even longer, I think,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in Warsaw on Monday.

One source familiar with the matter called the idea a PR campaign masking a much more complex reality. Another pointed out the difficulties of creating a drone barrier along the EU’s eastern flank due to the heavy activity of passenger and cargo planes in European airspace, which increases the risk of collateral damage.

According to the sources, the EU’s main task is to determine who will be responsible for coordination and how to link and synchronize existing national and regional initiatives that go beyond the capacity of individual member states.

“However, the drone hype risks overshadowing a broader problem: Europe lacks sufficient air and missile defense and is almost entirely dependent on the United States for long-range capabilities, while President Donald Trump is pushing the continent toward greater self-sufficiency,” the agency writes.

A key challenge acknowledged by many in the EU and NATO is that government institutions and Europe’s traditionally slow-moving defense industry struggle to keep pace with the rapid development of drone technologies.

“The great technologies of 2024 will no longer be great in October 2025. Everyone now understands that we should have built this drone wall a year or two ago,” said Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs.

Another difficulty in strengthening Europe’s eastern border is financing. Member states have only two months left to submit projects funded from the bloc’s €150 billion credit facility, and no other financing is expected until the new budget takes effect in 2028.