Speaking after the meeting in Helsinki, Tusk said Europe had come to recognise that protecting its eastern frontier with Russia and Belarus must be a shared European effort.
"We can finally say with satisfaction that Europe has understood that protecting its eastern border is our common responsibility," Tusk said at a joint news conference with other leaders.
"This is not only the duty of Poland, Finland or Lithuania. It is a shared European task and a shared European responsibility," he added.
The summit, held for the first time in this format, brought together leaders from Poland, Finland, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania and Bulgaria, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Tusk said Poland plays a major role in European security by guarding the EU’s external border with Russia and Belarus, noting that Warsaw does so using EU instruments and support.
The participating countries adopted a joint declaration pledging to work toward a common concept for a flagship project focused on strengthening the EU's eastern defences, known as the Eastern Flank Watch.
The declaration said Russia's war against Ukraine and its consequences pose "a profound and enduring threat to European security and stability," and stressed that "a robust European defence industry is a prerequisite for responding to the drastically changed security environment."
"The situation calls for an immediate prioritisation of the EU's Eastern Flank through a coordinated and multi-domain operational approach," the declaration said, listing key capabilities such as "ground combat capabilities, drone defence, air and missile defence, border and critical infrastructure protection, military mobility and counter mobility as well as strategic enablers."
The leaders said that "by uniting at the highest political level" they were sending "a clear and unequivocal message" that "Europe's Eastern Flank is a common responsibility and must be defended with urgency, leadership and resolve."
They committed to jointly advance "the Eastern Flank Watch, including European Drone Defence under the EU Defence Readiness 2030 framework, building on previous work in coordination with and in support of NATO’s deterrence and defence posture."
The meeting underscored growing concern among eastern EU and NATO members over security risks stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising tensions along Europe's eastern borders, the PAP news agency reported.
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Source: IAR, PAP
Click on the audio player above for a report by Agnieszka Bielawska.