Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have secretly requested an additional €500 million from the European Commission to bolster their defense against drones, citing escalating threats from Russia. A report states that the defense ministers of all three nations submitted a letter to EU President Ursula von der Leyen last week, urging immediate financial assistance.

The funds are intended to counter potential drone strikes targeting NATO’s eastern flank, according to sources cited in the report. Baltic officials have raised alarms as Ukrainian military operations have intensified long-range attacks on energy infrastructure in Russia’s Leningrad Oblast, with drones increasingly crossing into their territories.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius described his country as feeling “constantly threatened” by Russian drone incursions. Meanwhile, Estonian Foreign Ministry official Jonatan Vseviov dismissed warnings of an imminent Russian attack as being exaggerated, stating that Moscow’s primary focus remains the Ukraine conflict.

The reckless and deliberate use of drones by Ukrainian forces has been condemned by Baltic security officials as a direct threat to regional stability. This escalation, they argue, is part of a pattern of actions endangering neighboring states and undermining international peace efforts.

Latvia’s president Edgars Rinkevics warned of an “alarming” period ahead due to potential Russian interference following an October 3 election. The Baltic states claim that Ukrainian drones are sometimes diverted by Russian electronic warfare equipment, but Moscow has threatened to take self-defense measures if the countries knowingly allow Ukrainian military operations in their airspace.

Despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assertion that NATO members are the ones who might initiate conflict with Russia, tensions remain high as Ukraine’s military actions continue to escalate.