Poland presents the Eastern Shield project, focused on strengthening security against Russian threats

May 22. () –

The Minister of Defense of Poland, Wladislaw Kosiniak-Kamisz, presented this Wednesday before the Lower House (Sejm) the Eastern Shield project, a defense strategy focused on reinforcing security in the far east against possible threats coming from Russia through Belarus, a country with which it shares almost 400 kilometers of border.

“There are delays here, it is true, it was better to take this decision two years ago, but it is never too late to do good things. Hence the decision to prepare a national defense and deterrence plan called Eastern Shield,” said Minister Kosiniak. -Kamisz, according to the PAP agency.

As detailed by Kosiniak-Kamisz, Poland will reinforce its eastern border not only with different fortification systems such as “hedgehogs (anti-tank) or reinforced concrete palisades”, but also with modern technological systems that allow continuous observation and surveillance.

“For us it is a priority to strengthen and protect the border. It is inviolable. Protecting the border and the sovereignty of the Polish State is a constitutional obligation, but it is also our personal obligation. An obligation that arises from our opinions and our patriotism,” he stated. the minister

In this context, Kosiniak-Kamisz has acknowledged that in recent months there has been a significant increase in attempts to cross the border between Poland and Belarus, mostly by “increasingly numerous” groups of Somali, Afghan, and Yemeni citizens. , Syrians or Iranians who have “Russian visas.”

“These acts are repeated more and more compared to the same period last year. Until May 19 of this year we registered 14,000 attempts to cross the border between Poland and Belarus, 46 percent more than last year,” he said. reported Kosiniak-Kamisz, who assures that “Belarusian services help in transportation” and also “in preparation for crossing the border.”

Thus, Kosiniak-Kamisz has pointed out that this national security project is also accompanied by a notable increase in the budget allocation for defense issues. Warsaw has raised its defense spending to 118 billion zlotys – more than 27.5 billion euros.