Hungary and Slovakia not invited to EU "drone wall" talks

Hungary and Slovakia have not been invited to take part in a videoconference on establishing a "drone wall" along the eastern border of the European Union, convened by Andrius Kubilius, European Commissioner for Defence and Space.

"Indeed [Hungary and Slovakia will not be present – ed.] in these initial talks," European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said. 

The videoconference is scheduled for Friday 26 September, and will be attended by seven countries located in the east of the EU: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.

Ukraine has also been invited.

"We will definitely not exclude future calls, in [a] potential[lly] larger committee. But for now, only these seven frontline countries indeed [will participate], and Ukraine, of course," Regnier added.

He noted that the meeting follows the latest State of the Union speech by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in which she stressed the need to establish a "drone wall" after recent incidents in Romania and Poland.

"What will be discussed, member states remain, of course, in the driving seat. We will see what their interest is, how we can help them, what their capabilities are, what their needs are, and following up on this discussion, we will then decide on potential next steps hand-in-hand with these member states and Ukraine and the other member states," Regnier added.

Kubilius earlier announced plans to convene talks with EU defence ministers on establishing a "drone wall" along the Union’s eastern border. 

Prior to this, he called for urgent development of such a wall after Russian drones violated Polish airspace. 

The Financial Times said that the EU will rely on technologies that have been battle-tested in Ukraine.