Defense officials in Poland have shared details on a plan to strengthen the country’s eastern border. They say Poland is at constant risk of hostile actions by Russia and its ally, Belarus.
NATO member Poland on Monday elaborated on a plan to reinforce anti-drone surveillance and construct fortifications along some 700 kilometers (430 miles) of its border with Russian exclave Kaliningrad, and Russian ally Belarus.
The system, called Shield-East, is to be completed in 2028 and aims to protect Poland from hostile actions across the border, which up to now have included pushing migrants illegally into the country, an EU member.
The presentation of the plan comes as many countries from the former “Eastern Bloc” increasingly fear Russian aggression in view of Moscow’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
What has Poland said about the plan?
The Shield-East program, which includes planned fortifications, hubs and telecommunication systems in coordination with other eastern NATO allies — Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — is projected to cost 10 billion zloty (€2.35 billion, $2.55 billion). Poland hopes that EU funds will cover part of the costs because the system will also strengthen the eastern border of the 27-member bloc
“The goal of the shield is to protect the territory of Poland, hamper the mobility of the adversary’s troops while making such mobility easier for our own troops and to protect civilians,” Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said at a news conference.
“[The shield] makes up one complex system of defensive and deterrent actions. It connects access systems, but we will also purchase and implement modern anti-drone and reconnaissance systems,” he said.
The Shield-East is said to be a separate project from the wall on the border to Belarus constructed by Poland’s previous nationalist government to stop a massive inflow of migrants that it said was orchestrated by Minsk to destabilize the EU.
The current government under Prime Minister Donald Tusk says that wall will be strengthened, however.
