Donald Tusk posted on the X platform that work had started on the border with Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave.
"Construction of the East Shield has started!" He wrote above a picture of mechanical diggers at work. “The first works on the border with Russia.”
The government earmarked 10 billion złoty in May for the defense and deterrence project to secure 800 kilometers of border between 2024 and 2028.
In addition to fortifications and natural obstacles, the shield will include threat detection technology, military posts and other infrastructure, including anti-drone systems.
The project was initiated in response to the war in Ukraine and what the government describes as ‘hybrid-war’ tactics by Minsk and Moscow that include migratory pressure at the eastern borders.
Similar concerns have prompted the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to announce a ‘Baltic Defense Line’ to be integrated with Poland’s eastern defense efforts.
