Poland plans to fortify its border with Belarus

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Defense officials from NATO member Poland presented plans Monday to fortify its eastern border with Moscow’s ally Belarus.

The government claims that Poland, which supports Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression, is being targeted by hostile actions by Russia and Belarus. They include cyberattacks, attempted arson attempts and migrants illegally pushed across the border, which authorities describe as aimed at destabilizing the European Union, of which Poland is a member.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government has planned a series of security measures, including in cyberspace, as well as an investment of around $2.5 billion in security on the eastern border, known as Shield-East. He said last week that work on the shield had begun.

The Minister of Defense, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, General Wiesław Kukuła, present the details of strengthening border protection, including modern blockades, fortifications and surveillance that seek to deter any potential aggressor.

The Ministry of Defense states that the system will be an element of the regional defense infrastructure built together with the Baltic States – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – which are also on NATO’s eastern flank.

Shield-East “will significantly strengthen the nation’s resilience to military threats from the east, limit adversary troop mobility, while offering greater freedom of action and survival to our own troops and civilians,” the ministry said.

Poland’s previous right-wing government built a $400 million wall on the border with Belarus to stop a massive influx of migrants that began being pushed in that direction in 2021. The current pro-EU government says it needs to be strengthened.

The three Baltic states were once part of the Soviet Union, while Poland was a satellite state of the USSR before the 1990s. Moscow still considers the area to be within its sphere of interests.