By Olha Hembik | 2024-12-11

WARSAW -- Poland is making progress on the East Shield deterrence and defense system, which aims to defend the European Union's eastern borders and support NATO's common defense goals.

The first 2.3km of the East Shield is already completed, according to the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure.

Construction of the entire 800km-long border defense system is expected to take four years, with a completion date set in 2028, Deputy Minister of National Defense Cezary Tomczyk told journalists last month.

The East Shield will be a key element in combating illegal migration from Belarus while also serving protecting the country's eastern flank from military threats.

It will encompass the entire border zone in Pomeranian, Warmian-Masurian, Podlaskie, Lublin and Podkarpackie (Subcarpathian) provinces in Poland, Tomczyk said.

The plan includes fortification of border areas, as well as the construction of threat reconnaissance and detection systems, forward bases, logistics hubs, warehouses and the deployment of anti-drone systems, the Polish Press Agency (PAP) reported November 12.

On November 30, Minister of Infrastructure Dariusz Klimczak, together with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, visited the town of Dąbrówka, where the first part of the defense system was completed as part of the East Shield program.

'Investment in peace, security'

The undertaking will cost 10 billion PLN (€2.3 billion), according to the Ministry of National Defense.

The funding for construction and maintenance will come from Poland, the European Union (EU), the European Investment Bank and NATO.

"The investment has also gained an international dimension and support from the Baltic states and partners such as Finland, Great Britain and the USA, which strengthens the deterrent effect," the Ministry of Infrastructure said in a statement November 30.

"This is a joint venture not only involving Poland; it is linked .. to the efforts of the Baltic states," Tusk said October 14 in Orzysz, Warmian-Masurian province, during military exercises to test the East Shield program. "I take pleasure that ... the British are cooperating with us and the Americans are ready."

"The main objective [of East Shield] is to deter the potential foe," Tusk continued. "Let's view it as an investment in peace and security, not as ordinary military exercises."

Cutting-edge defense

"Poland has ended up in a situation where it needed to have been prepared yesterday for Russian aggression," said Jerzy Mazur, a retired Polish army officer who served in peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo.

"East Shield is a great program, and we need to actively train personnel to manage it," he told Kontur.

In the final stage of construction, East Shield will be fitted with state-of-the-art electronic equipment. Thanks to a satellite surveillance system, the defense of Poland will start in space, Business Insider reported May 27.

"Poland's border with Belarus or Russia will be not only the most secure border in Europe but also the most state-of-the-art one," Tomczyk said during a presentation of the program in Podlaskie province on November 12.

"Along with the hard infrastructure components, we have in mind anti-drone systems and matters of communications," he said.

The system will include concrete antitank barriers as well.

Strengthening Europe's borders

"We have clear experience from World War II and know that allies don't always take action on time and don't always make decisions at the right time," said Piotr Kaszuwara, a war correspondent and founder of Fundacja Przyszłość dla Ukraine (UA Future).

"That's why Poland has been investing in its own military forces for a long time. We're one of a small number of NATO countries that spend 5% of their GDP on defense," he told Kontur.

"The West grasps that if Ukraine suddenly loses his war, the next victims of Russian aggression could be the NATO member countries," said Stanislav Zhelikhovsky, a Ukrainian political scientist specializing in international relations.

"So now action is being taken with this in mind," he told Kontur, noting the November 19 Weimar Triangle summit in Warsaw, which brought together the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.

"In addition to military support for Ukraine, one of the things they talked about was building a strong Europe that will resist threats from the east," Zhelikhovsky said.

"There's a lot being done right now to strengthen Europe, and the East Shield is a key element in these efforts," he said.