Six NATO countries plan to establish a "drone wall" against Russia following a series of provocations that included sending migrants across their borders, according to a report Sunday.
Officials from Finland, Norway, Poland and three Baltic states discussed deploying a wall of drones to strengthen their borders against potential Russian attacks, according to the Financial Times.
"This is a completely new thing — a drone wall stretching from Norway to Poland — and the goal is to use drones and other technologies to protect our borders," Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė told the Baltic News Service.
The other Baltic countries involved in the project are Estonia and Latvia.
Officials didn't provide details about the deployment of the drone wall, with Bilotaitė saying each country needed to do "homework," and suggesting that EU funds might help pay for it.
Mari Rantanen, Finland's interior minister, told public broadcaster Yle that the plan would "improve in time" and could help defend the Nordic nation's border with Russia, which at 883 miles is the longest of any NATO or European Union country, the FT noted.
In addition to the drone wall, the officials reportedly discussed plans for evacuating large portions of their populations if conflict erupted with Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, sparking an ongoing war.
Russia has mounted "hybrid" attacks against Finland and the five other countries, using non-military measures with elements of deniability such as directing migrants from Africa and the Middle East to seek asylum there, according to the FT.
Last week, Russia's Defense Ministry also briefly posted an online proposal to expand its maritime borders with Lithuania and Finland, one day before removing 25 buoys that marked its maritime border with Estonia.
Many NATO countries fear Russia could test the 32-member alliance's border in the next five to 10 years, according to the FT.
