Poland is planning a defensive line along its borders with Belarus and Russia and is calling it the “East Shield”. Further missile purchases are intended to increase the country’s defense preparedness.
Poland has announced plans for a new defence line along its borders with Belarus and Russia. The project, dubbed “East Shield”, is designed to make NATO’s eastern flank “impassable” against a potential attacker, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the Telegraph reports.
Poland’s defense minister described the project as “the largest operation to strengthen Poland’s eastern border, NATO’s eastern flank, since 1945.” It is said to be a combination of anti-tank ditches, bunkers, minefields and modern technology. Work on this project is expected to begin this year and is expected to be completed by 2028.
The border between Poland and Belarus has recently become a security hotspot, with thousands of migrants and refugees crossing this border into Europe. Tusk has described this situation as a “hybrid migration war” facilitated by Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Belarus.
The “East Shield” project, also known as the “Tusk Line”, serves as a deterrent against attacks from Russia and was developed in cooperation with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Against the backdrop of Russia’s war of aggression in neighboring Ukraine, Poland is investing in state-of-the-art US cruise missiles worth 677 million euros. The war in Ukraine has shown “how important it is to be able to fire missiles at targets far from the front line,” the Polish Defense Ministry said on Monday. With the arms purchase, Warsaw wants to strengthen its defense capacities to ward off a possible Russian threat.
The new rockets have a range of around 1,000 kilometers. The JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile) air-to-surface cruise missiles are scheduled to be delivered from Washington to Warsaw between 2026 and 2030. Poland already has JASSM missiles with a range of 370 kilometers, which are deployed aboard its F-16 fighter jets.
The arms deal is expected to be officially signed on Tuesday. It is part of Warsaw’s rapid modernization of its army in the face of the Russian threat. The defense budget of the NATO and EU country Poland is around four percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), making it one of the highest percentages of all NATO countries. The government in Warsaw had previously initiated a number of arms purchases, particularly in the USA and South Korea.
Since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, Poland has been one of Kiev’s strongest supporters. Poland borders not only on Ukraine, but also on the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad in the northeast and on its Russian ally Belarus. Poland fears that it will also become a target of Russian aggression.