The European Union is actively promoting the European Drone Defense Initiative; a project aimed at protecting its eastern borders from Russian drones. The initiative arose against the backdrop of frequent incidents involving violations of EU airspace, including cases over Poland, Romania, and the Baltic states. This is not a physical wall, but a network of sensors, radars, acoustic detectors, jammers, and interception systems for detecting and neutralizing enemy UAVs.
Official estimates of the project’s cost vary depending on its scale. According to European Commissioner for Defense Andrius Kubilius, a basic anti-drone system for Poland and the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) will cost approximately €1 billion. The deployment of the detection system alone may be possible within a year.
For wider coverage — from Finland to Romania and Bulgaria (a border length of about 2,700–3,000 km) — analysts and the media estimate the cost at several billion euros. Specifically:
Some experts and publications (including Reuters and Russian sources) estimate the cost of the entire project at €10 billion.
Other estimates range from €3 to €7 billion over four years of implementation.
The European Commission is avoiding giving exact figures for now, stressing that “we are not talking about hundreds of billions.” Funding is planned to come from EU defense funds, including the SAFE (Security Action for Europe) program, as well as the possible use of profits from frozen Russian assets. The project is part of the EU’s Defense Readiness Roadmap 2030, where the “drone wall” is one of the flagship initiatives.
The project is controversial: border countries (Poland, the Baltic states, Finland) insist on its urgency, while Germany, France, and southern EU members doubt its technical feasibility, cost, and the risk of duplication with NATO. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte supported the idea, noting its economic efficiency: “You can’t spend millions on missiles to shoot down drones that cost thousands of dollars.”
The system is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2027–2028. The EU is cooperating with Ukraine, which is sharing its experience in countering Russian Shahed-type drones.