EU gives Estonia €19.4 million to strengthen border security
The European Commission will allocate €170 million to countries bordering Russia and Belarus to "enhance" border surveillance, strengthen the external border, and to counter the "weaponization" of migration by both countries.
Russia and Belarus have been directing irregular migrants to cross the EU's external borders since 2020.
The money can be used to upgrade electronic surveillance equipment, improve telecommunication networks, deploy mobile detection equipment and counter drone intrusions, ensuring real-time situational awareness and enhancing border patrols' mobility, a statement said.
Estonia will recieve €19.4 million, Finland €50 million, Latvia €17 million, Lithuania €15.4 million, Poland €52 million and Norway €16.4 million
A press release said Russia and Belarus: "Take advantage of people, using human beings in an act of hostility, disregarding their vulnerability. They use this hybrid warfare as a political tool to destabilize our societies, to undermine the unity of the EU and to jeopardize the safety and integrity of the Schengen area and the security of the Union as a whole."
President Ursula von der Leyen said: "Autocrats must never be allowed to use our European values against us."
In a tweet after speaking to Finnish Prime Minster Petteri Orpo she said the five countries are "bravely keeping our borders safe from threats of all forms coming from Russia and Belarus."
I just spoke to @PetteriOrpo.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 11, 2024
Finland, alongside , is bravely keeping our borders safe from threats of all forms coming from Russia and Belarus.
They are securing our common borders. So today we're making available €170 million to support their efforts.
On Wednesday the commission agreed to adopt a communication to support countries bordering Russia and Belarus to counter hybrid threats to strengthen security at the EU's external borders.
These threats "pose new challenges" to the EU and member states must be ready to "act decisively," it said.
It was also agreed the countries could also restrict migrants' right to asylum in cases where Moscow and Minsk use them as instruments
Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania have been the worst affected by the hybrid migration attack. Over 26,000 have tried to cross Poland's border this year, authorities say. A Polish soldier died after being stabbed at the border in the summer.
An attempt to pressure Finland last year resulted in the country closing almost all of its border crossings with Russia.
Estonia has been one of the least affected, but authorities say they are prepared. Officers from the Police and Border Guard (PPA) have assisted colleagues in Latvia and Lithuania.
Approximately 80 percent of Estonia's eastern border fence has been completed and the project is on course to meet its 2025 deadline.
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Editor: Helen Wright
