Overview

• EU leaders accepted the Commission’s counter‑UAV initiative in principle as a coordinated network to detect and intercept drones along the eastern flank, with specifics still to be defined.
• Southern members including Italy, Spain and Greece insisted any investment benefit the whole bloc, while France and Germany questioned feasibility and Brussels’ role, with Berlin’s Friedrich Merz delivering especially sharp criticism.
• Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius estimated the initial Poland‑Baltics package at about €1 billion and said core detection could be deployed in under a year.
• Any EU funding requires unanimous approval, with a follow‑up round of NATO and EU defense discussions scheduled for October 15 in Brussels as the Commission readies a more detailed proposal.
• Ukraine is sharing battlefield expertise, with specialists already deploying to Denmark to support counter‑drone efforts after recent incursions into Poland and Romania exposed detection gaps.