They called for “appropriate scale of funding” to finance a Eastern Flank Watch
A group of seven European countries closest to Russia urged the EU and NATO to make Eastern Flank security a priority, two weeks before allies meet in Ankara to discuss how to increase weapon production and deter Moscow’s threats.
“A secure Eastern Flank is a priority goal that will benefit all of Europe in the short and long term,” a joint declaration by Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Sweden issued on Thursday reads.
The statement, signed following an Eastern Flank summit held on the margins of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk, adds that Russian threats must “constitute a cornerstone for the upcoming European Security Strategy.”
The Commission is currently drafting a future EU Security Strategy – first pitched by President Ursula von der Leyen in January – which is expected to acknowledge a broad array of threats the EU faces, far beyond traditional security and defence.
