According to the information obtained by the US-based international defense publication Defense News from European Union (EU) and NATO sources, it has started to put forward all its strength to realize the air defense protection shield project across the continent, which has been on the agenda of Europe for a long time. The architect of the project is Germany, and its reason is to completely repel Moscow’s air attacks in a possible war with Russia.
MİÇOTAKİS BROUGHT IT TO THE AGENDA
According to the information obtained by the US-based media from NATO and EU lobbies, the draft proposal jointly written by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was presented to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the beginning of this month. According to sources, the draft proposal is supported by both von der Leyen and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. It is stated that Borrell also presented the proposal to the authorities before the Foreign Relations Council meeting held in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, where the EU institutions are headquartered.
EU WILL BE ON THE AGENDA
Sources also state that the proposal to create financial resources for the giant project will be the main agenda item in the first meeting of the EU institutions. The giant project, called the European Air Defense Initiative (ESSI) and established in Germany in 2022, currently has 21 members. The project was developed after Russia hit Ukrainian cities with air strikes, missiles and UAVs in its war with Kiev.
PROJECT THAT CHALLENGES BUDGETS
The ESSI project is a project that aims to integrate the weapons of EU member countries, most of which use different air defense systems, to work with each other and to use designated common air defense weapons. Among the systems planned to be used within the scope of the project, there are those produced in Europe, as well as the US-made Patriot system or the US-Israeli co-produced Arrow 3 missiles. Since the integration and standardization of weapons requires a high budget, not all EU member states are participating in the project yet.
Türkiye WANTS TO JOIN
The defense project, which currently includes 21 European countries, continues to be developed to provide air defense protection in a total area of 3 million 697 thousand 779 km. The brainchild of the system that will protect 382 million people from air attacks is German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Belgium, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Finland, the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are among the countries participating in the project, which was launched after Russia placed Iskander missiles in the city of Kaliningrad, which is the only territory in Europe and located in the heart of North Eastern Europe. There are Denmark, Sweden, Czechia and the United Kingdom. In the statement made by the German government, it is stated that Türkiye and Greece also plan to participate in the program. Austria and Switzerland, known for their neutrality, are among those who signed the initiative declaration to participate in the project.
FRANCE AGAINST THE PROJECT
France stands out as the country that strongly opposes the ESSI project. Although France claims that “not enough EU-made weapons are used” as the reason for its opposition, according to NATO sources, this is just a diplomatic mask. KSources state that Paris is angry that the France-Italy co-produced SAMP-T system was not included in ESSI. Italy and Spain are also in opposition to the project led by France.