F-35 fighter jets of the Royal Netherlands Air Force in formation.
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LUXEMBOURG – Europe isn’t at struggle with Russia, however it wants to take its threats significantly, Luxembourg’s head of state informed CNBC Tuesday in an unique interview.
Quite a few European nations have flagged new Russian threats in current weeks. Poland, Romania and Estonia have all reported airspace violations by Russian jets or drones, whereas Denmark cited a number of “drone incidents” final week, and mentioned it couldn’t rule out that Moscow was concerned.
It has led some European officers, together with the EU’s Commissioner for Economic Affairs Valdis Dombrovskis, to say Europe is already in a “hybrid war” with Russia.
“We clearly see that Russia has become a permanent threat to European security,” Luc Frieden, prime minister of Luxembourg, informed CNBC Tuesday, though he mentioned he didn’t but imagine the continent was going through a struggle with Russia.
“There’s a certain kind of provocation that we have to take seriously. I don’t think that we are at war with Russia, and I don’t want us to be at war,” he mentioned.
Frieden mentioned his message to Russia was to cease what it was doing and to go away the Ukrainians alone.
“We need to take your security interests seriously, but you also need to know that you have no chance in conquering Europe and there’s no chance of re-establishing a Soviet Union,” he added.
Drone wall – a European dream?
Frieden’s feedback got here on the eve of a gathering of EU leaders the place they are going to be debating new measures designed to make the continent safer. This consists of the thought of a “drone wall” within the jap a part of Europe, shut to the Russian border.
This protection system can be designed to intercept unauthorized drones earlier than they enter European airspace.
The “drone wall initiative is timely and necessary,” NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte mentioned Tuesday. Luxembourg’s chief mentioned he wanted “to listen to the experts,” however he was open to the thought.
The idea is elevating issues that the bloc continues to be too gradual in bettering its deterrence choices, nonetheless.
“We are not talking about a concept that will be realized in the next three or four years,” Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius mentioned at an occasion, according to Politico.
The newest incidents additionally spotlight how ill-prepared the bloc is amid the rising significance of drones in immediately’s warfare. Dutch F-35 fighter jets have been despatched to Poland when it confronted Russian drone incursions into its airspace.
“In the end, we cannot spend millions of euros, or dollars, on missiles to take out the drones, which are only costing a couple of thousand dollars,” NATO’s Rutte added. “We need the drone wall.”