The key facts

  • In September, the defence ministers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia sent a letter to the European Commission requesting €500 million for a counter-drone protection system
  • The European Commission refused and recommended using the SAFE fund — up to €150 billion in concessional loans for joint procurement of military equipment
  • The Baltic states planned to combine drone detection, AI and jamming capabilities into a single air defence system

European Commission's refusal

The European Commission has declined to allocate the requested €500 million to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia for creating a system to protect against unmanned aerial vehicles, instead advising them to turn to credit instruments. This was reported by the European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius, as cited by the Lithuanian broadcaster LRT (a summary is provided by Gazeta.Ru).

What the Baltic states asked for

In September, the heads of the three countries' defence ministries — Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas, Estonian Defence Minister Martin Herem and Latvian Defence Minister Raimonds Melnis — sent a letter to the European Commission requesting funding. The countries had hoped for approval of additional funding for regional counter-drone protection by the end of 2026 and wanted to combine drone detection technologies, artificial intelligence and jamming capabilities into a single air defence system.

What the European Commission offered instead of the grant

According to Kubilius, there are currently few opportunities to obtain significant additional funds through EU budget programmes, since the current budget period is coming to an end. He proposed using the SAFE fund (Security Action for Europe) — an emergency EU financial instrument launched in May 2026. It provides for up to €150 billion in concessional long-term loans to support joint procurement of military equipment and to strengthen the union's defence-industrial base.

What this changes in practical terms

The difference between the two options is significant for the Baltic defence ministries: instead of non-repayable funding from the EU budget, for which they had expected an answer by the end of 2026, they have been offered concessional loans that will have to be repaid. Moreover, the SAFE fund itself is oriented toward joint procurement of military equipment rather than directly toward developing a regional air defence system as the Baltic states had envisioned it. The article ends with a reference to an earlier Gazeta.Ru publication stating that in the State Duma it was proposed to shoot down drones over the Baltic states; no details of that proposal are given in the current report.