Poland has allocated 10 billion zlotys ($2.55 billion) to strengthen its borders with Russia and Belarus with barbed wire and other means to deter potential aggression. The plan, dubbed the “Eastern Shield,” will include new fortifications, fences, terrain changes, and special afforestation along 400 kilometers of the land border, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday. He said the government had already started working on the projects. The move comes as another wave of illegal migrants from Belarus has failed to fully stop a 5.5-meter-high barbed-wire fence built by the previous administration in 2022.
Security and the risk of Russian interference have become the main themes that Poland’s ruling coalition has raised in its campaign ahead of European elections next month. Tusk also expects the European Investment Bank to announce 500 million zlotys to finance the country’s costs for satellite monitoring equipment. The system is expected to be part of the Iron Dome-type air defence system that Poland has been campaigning for.
The prime minister also said he would announce government action next week against sabotage and the risk of subversion by Russia. This follows a spy scandal that saw a local judge flee to Belarus, as well as a series of major fires. “Poland will be merciless to those who seek to destabilise our country,” Tusk said.