Poland and the Baltic countries called on the EU to build a defense line on the borders with the Russian Federation and Belarus

< em>Photo: Polish troops guard the border with Belarus behind a metal barrier in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, May 29. 2024

Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have called on the EU to build a line of defense on the bloc's borders with Russia and Belarus to protect the EU from military threats and other harmful actions from Moscow.

In a letter to the EU presidency, the leaders of four countries bordering Russia and Belarus said the project, aimed at protecting the bloc of 450 million people, would require financial support from all members.

The letter will be discussed at the summit in Brussels , which opened on Thursday, June 27, reports Reuters.

"Building a system of defense infrastructure on the EU's external border with Russia and Belarus will satisfy the grim and urgent need to secure the EU from military and hybrid threats,", – said the letter from the four leaders, seen by Reuters.

Hybrid threats are defined as a combination of military and non-military, covert and overt means, including disinformation, cyber-attacks, economic pressure and pushing migrants across borders.

"The scale and cost of this joint venture require targeted EU action to support it politically and financially," the letter says.

Some EU diplomats have estimated the cost of building such a defensive line along the EU's 700-kilometer border with Russia and Belarus at around 2.5 billion euros.

European defense investment and funding will be a major topic at the EU leaders' summit, as Russia's war in Ukraine enters its third year and Moscow ramps up hybrid operations against the West.

The letter says that planning and building a defense line on the EU's eastern border should be done in coordination with NATO and its military requirements.

Prepared by: Sergey Daga