Plan aims to fortify eastern border
Defence officials in NATO member Poland on Monday presented a plan to strengthen anti-drone surveillance and on-ground military defence through a system of fortifications and barriers along about 700 kilometres of its eastern border with Russia and Russian ally Belarus.
The government says Poland, which supports neighbouring Ukraine in its defence against Russia’s aggression, is being targeted by hostile actions from Russia and Belarus. They include cyberattacks, attempted arson and migrants being pushed illegally across the border, which officials describe as intended to destabilize the European Union, of which Poland is a member.
The government is also making preparations in the case of a military attack, while stressing the primary role of deterrence.
The government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk has planned a range of security measures including in cyberspace, as well as a more than $2.5 billion (U.S.) investment in strengthening surveillance, deterrence and defence along the eastern border, a system known as Shield-East that is to be completed in 2028. Work on it has started, officials said.
“The goal of the shield is to protect the territory of Poland, hamper the mobility of our adversary’s troops while making such mobility easier for our own troops and to protect civilians,” Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said at a news conference, adding that local communities understand the need for such steps.
He stressed it was the biggest program to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank since 1945, when the Second World War ended.