Hybrid threats, particularly foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI), have become a permanent feature of Europe’s security environment. As a result of their direct exposure to destabilization efforts, the B5 countries - Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, and Poland - together with Ukraine, have developed practical response mechanisms, which may serve as an operational foundation for further development of the European Democracy Shield (EUDS).

On 12 May 2026, more than thirty participants convened at the offices of Wardyński and Partners on Aleje Ujazdowskie in Warsaw for a meeting of the National Security Industrial Club (NSIC) and the Casimir Pulaski Foundation, dedicated to drone and counter-drone systems as a challenge for Poland's security.

This is not the first time Western countries have turned their attention to Central Asia – the region was already the focus of external attention in the 19th century as the theatre of the Great Game, then following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and a further wave of interest arose after the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent American involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.