The European Commission will invest more in surveillance at the bloc’s borders with Russia and Belarus, it said on Wednesday, as it accused Russia of encouraging migrants over the border in a “hybrid war” tactic on European Union (EU) member nations.
Countries including Poland and Finland will benefit from an additional $178.57 million “to upgrade electronic surveillance equipment, improve telecommunication networks, deploy mobile detection equipment and counter-drone intrusions,” it said in a statement.
Finland has accused Russia of encouraging migrants from countries such as Syria and Somalia to cross the border – an assertion Moscow denies.
Poland has raised concerns about Belarus reportedly offering migrants an unofficial route into Europe. Belarus rejects the accusations.
Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s new executive vice president in charge of security, said the situation on Europe’s borders was “very serious”.
“Russia uses weaponisation of migration as a new tool in the hybrid war against the EU. We must not allow any hostile state to abuse European values, including the right to asylum,” she said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Finland, Poland, Norway and the Baltic countries were “bravely keeping our borders safe from threats of all forms coming from Russia and Belarus”.
Poland will make joint defence financing a priority during its presidency of the EU given alarm over matters from the Ukraine war to the return of NATO-sceptic Donald Trump to the White House, Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski said. Poland takes over the rotating six-month leadership of the EU in January.
EU member nations, including its biggest economy, Germany are scrambling to boost defence spending due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Trump’s threat not to help a European nation under attack unless it was spending at least 2% of GDP on defence.
EU estimates the cost of boosting EU defence at 500 billion euros or more over the next 10 years and has created a new post of defence commissioner.
EU finance ministers will discuss possible financing models in April in Warsaw, Domanski said.
Without saying how much money was needed, he noted that large projects, like a European air defence system, were not only about money but also about cooperation between nations.
Team Bharatshakti
(With inputs from Reuters)
