The eight heads of state and government from the eastern part of the EU met in Helsinki on December 16, 2025. HEIKKI SAUKKOMAA / AFP
As both European Union and North Atlantic Alliance members, their countries share either a land or maritime border with Russia and Belarus. They have also been regularly targeted by hybrid attacks from their two neighbors. And, since February 2022 and the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, they have steadily increased their defense budgets, now reaching an average of 3.3% of their GDP.
That has not been enough. Meeting in Helsinki on Tuesday, December 16, the leaders of the eastern flank of Europe – Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria – are now demanding that the EU also contribute financially. Their message is "clear and unequivocal:" The defense of the eastern border must be considered a "common responsibility," the eight heads of state and government wrote in a statement.
"If Ukraine is Europe's first front line with Russia, then the eastern flank is the second line of defense. We must therefore build a wall of deterrence to prevent Russia from testing our readiness," Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said upon arriving in the Finnish capital for the summit, which was held two days before the European Council meeting in Brussels.
