Poland Strengthens Security Measures on the Border with Russia and Belarus

Anti-tank hedgehogs and concertina razor wire

Poland is stepping up security measures on the border with Belarus and the Kaliningrad region of Russia, Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Thursday. Poland has begun installing concrete and steel barriers at crossings as part of our defense and containment strategy. The Polish government has been the loudest call in the European Union and NATO for a tough response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The decision to install anti-tank hedgehogs and concrete barriers comes after Poland decided last year to build a razor wire fence along the 210-kilometer border with Kaliningrad and a concertina wire border wall along the border with Belarus. The government in Warsaw accused the Kremlin in 2021 of orchestrating an influx of thousands of migrants, mostly from the Middle East, onto its eastern border in an attempt to destabilize Poland and other EU countries.