COPENHAGEN – Drone incursions have pushed European leaders to confront the vulnerability of the bloc’s eastern flank, with defence ministers now poised to play a bigger role in shaping collective security. “For everybody, the main threat we are facing now comes from Russia, and especially on the Eastern flank.”Still, persuading Mediterranean electorates of the urgency of the eastern threat may prove difficult. Defence ministers ‘junior’ no moreThough the summit ended without written conclusions, member states agreed to give the bloc’s defence ministers more authority in shaping security policy. Currently, defence ministers meet under the Foreign Affairs Council, headed by the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas. “The centre of gravity is with the defence ministers,” one council official said, while noting that the European Commission would continue to drive industrial aspects of defence policy.