Russia has threatened the Baltic countries, stating that it is considering "retaliation" against them for "opening the airspace" to Ukrainian drones used in attacks on Russian territory. This means that a possible attack against Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania has been warned. In response to this warning, the EU has directly addressed the Kremlin: "An attack on one of our Member States is an attack on the European Union as a whole. Protecting the Member States and the EU as a whole is fundamental."
The statement from the European Commission's Defense spokesperson, Thomas Regnier, has been quite strong. Or rather, it seemed so, because when asked again about what Brussels could actually do, or even if it is considering activating Article 42.7 on common defense, the response was that this is not currently under consideration. "I was not referring to that," he pointed out.
"I was referring to flagship initiatives," he continued. The flagships, as they are known in Brussels, refer to measures related to anti-drone defense, surveillance of the eastern flank, European air defense, and space defense. "This highlights the need to advance the four flagship initiatives. We need, of course, for our Member States to make progress on these four initiatives that we have proposed. We firmly believe they are of key importance in protecting the European Union as a whole," added the Commission.
However, these are medium to long-term measures, not specific actions in response to an immediate Russian attack on a EU country. In other words, Brussels is once again providing a strong response behind which, in reality, there is not much. At least, not for now.
Regarding Russia's threat, Estonia and Latvia have publicly denied allowing their airspace to be used. Finland, which has also been threatened, has done the same. Tallinn has pointed out that, in reality, Moscow is using its anti-drone defense system to provoke Ukrainian unmanned vehicles to actually invade the airspace of the Baltic countries. Or even to crash in these areas.
"A proper warning has been given to these countries. If the regimes of these countries have any sense, they will take it into account. Otherwise, they will have to face a response," specifically stated from the Kremlin.