European Union preparing defense roadmap to protect against Russia - Kallas

She emphasized that the European Union is currently facing an "extraordinary surge" of hybrid attacks. Kallas noted that every time a Russian drone or aircraft violates the airspace of EU member states, "there is a risk of escalation, unintended or not."

"Russia is gambling with war, and we are moving beyond the realms of hypothetical conflict. To keep war at bay, we must translate the economic power of Europe into military deterrence," she said.

Kallas stated that the European defense roadmap will outline the development of capabilities in key areas, including anti-drone systems.

"It is clear that we need to toughen our defence against Russia. Not to provoke war, but the opposite, to prevent war. This will be the playbook for how to do that, and also it has to be in full alignment with NATO," the EU High Representative stressed.

Unknown drones over Europe

Over the past month, flights of unidentified drones have been recorded in the airspace of several EU countries over military facilities and critical infrastructure.

In particular, drones have been spotted in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Germany, and France. In some cities, this led to the temporary suspension of operations at civilian airports.

According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, such incidents may be provocations by the Kremlin. In this way, it may be testing the reaction of European countries and preparing for a possible expansion of the war even before the fighting in Ukraine is over.

Ukrainian intelligence has established that many of these drones are launched from tankers belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet.

In Germany, work has begun on a law that would allow police to shoot down such drones that violate regulations and no-fly zones.