- According to Ursula von der Leyen, Russia is deliberately destabilizing European democracies.
- Drone incidents in the Baltic countries have exposed the weaknesses of European defense.
- A series of drone alerts in the Baltics is becoming increasingly common.
President of the European Commission (EC) Ursula On Tuesday, von der Leyen accused Russia of trying to destabilize European democracies through recent drone incidents in the Baltics. TASR informs about it according to the AFP agency.
At the press conference with the leaders of the countries of the eastern wing of NATO, the head of the EC also stated that the wave of alarms caused by the appearance of drones in the Baltic countries in recent weeks “revealed weaknesses” in the continent’s defense preparedness. Von der Leyen visited Lithuania just a week after residents were urged to seek shelter following a brief alert caused by a drone flyover over the capital Vilnius.
“People in the Baltic countries are experiencing what many thought was a thing of the past,” said the president of the EC at a briefing together with the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. “These are not isolated incidents. This is a deliberate strategy by Russia to destabilize our democratic societies,” added.
“But like on the battlefield in Ukraine, Russia is failing,” she added. Similar alarms have become increasingly common in the Baltic states in recent months. Von der Leyen warned at a press conference that what the Baltic states are currently experiencing may soon affect the rest of Europe.
