The European Commission's "drone wall" plan has been renamed the "European Drone Defense Initiative," with focus has expanded Europe-wide and not just on the eastern flank.

Estonia's High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas noted that this was not just a cosmetic name change, and that while the drone wall was initially intended primarily with the eastern flank, which includes Estonia, in mind, member states from other areas noted that the very nature of drones means that incursions could happen anywhere.

"Drones are already redefining warfare. Having drone defenses is no longer optional for anyone," Kallas said.

The concept of the European Commission's "drone wall" had hit resistance from the outset, with some critics stating the term "wall" implied a level of unbreachable security that in practice would not be feasible to achieve.

The European Commission will not be distributing any new funds for the revised project; instead, discussions are focused on previously agreed Security Action for Europe (SAFE) loans and reallocations from the EU recovery fund.
This means it is up to member states themselves to find funding for drone defense.

Ahead of Wednesday's meeting of EU defense ministers Hanno Pevkur (Reform) acknowledged that the main issue was in any case funding.

After the meeting, the minister noted: "With our own activities, we're moving forward. Next week we'll be testing detection systems and drone neutralization devices. If those tests are successful, we will certainly proceed with our planned actions to secure Estonia's airspace more quickly than the European Commission's initiatives."

Late last month, drone activity shut down airports in Denmark, ahead of an EU summit which took place there.

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