Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia called on the European Union to build a defense line along the bloc’s border with Russia and Belarus.

Reuters reported on this.

“Building a defense infrastructure system along the EU external border with Russia and Belarus will address the dire and urgent need to secure the EU from military and hybrid threats,” the letter of the four leaders said.

Hybrid threats refer to a combination of military and nonmilitary as well as covert and overt means, including disinformation, cyberattacks, economic pressure, and the pushing of migrants across borders.

“The scale and costs of this joint endeavor require a dedicated EU action to support it both politically and financially,” the letter said.

Some EU diplomats estimated the cost of building such a defensive line on the ground along the 700 km EU border with Russia and Belarus to be around €2.5 billion.

The call for a jointly funded ground defense line on the eastern border of the European Union comes on top of an earlier initiative by Greece and Poland to create an EU air defense system, modeled on the Israeli Iron Dome, that would coordinate the now separate air defense systems of EU countries.

“Extraordinary measures need to be employed as the EU’s external border must be protected and defended with military and civilian means,” the letter of the four countries said.

The letter said the planning and execution of the defense line on the EU’s eastern border should be done in coordination with NATO and its military requirements.

Previously, France launched a joint defense initiative within the EU.

French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu stated that France wants to create a joint European rapid-response force by 2025.

Previously, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Europe should create a rapid response force of up to 5,000 troops that can be rapidly deployed in a hostile environment to evacuate European citizens.