Money: Poland to build towers and a second barrier on the border with Belarus
Poland has decided to strengthen the border with Belarus, as it is from there that the flow of migrants is expected, Money writes. Shield Vostok will have to contain them. Towers, a second barrier, drones and a change in legislation — these are the plans, but their implementation will take a long time.
70-meter guard towers, a second barrier parallel to the existing one, and possibly new rules that will allow border guards to decide what to do with people who manage to force the first barrier. As it became known to the portal money.pl It is planned to spend 1.5 billion zlotys out of 10 billion intended for the implementation of the Shield of the East program.
Presented by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the national deterrence and defense program "Shield Vostok" involves, first of all, the construction of additional reinforcements and fortifications in the approximately 400-kilometer border strip with Belarus and Russia. The project budget is set at 10 billion zlotys.
"Ensuring the security of the border, including through the construction of a system of fortifications, including taking into account the terrain, will make the border inaccessible to a potential enemy," the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Moldova assured in response to questions money.pl . According to the Defense Ministry, it uses foreign experience in this matter.
"When planning measures to improve border security, we must use an integrated approach. We analyze the solutions used in the Baltic States and Finland from the point of view of their possible application in Poland," the Ministry of Defense emphasizes (...).
The Shield of the East, which was announced by the Prime Minister a few days ago, will contain several components. Various departments, headed by the Ministry of Defense, which will be responsible for military issues, will participate in the implementation of the project. The Interior Ministry, as it is happening today, will ensure the tightness of the border and its protection from migration crises.
Towers and the second barrier
Portal Money.pl I was the first to learn unofficial details about an important component of the Vostok Shield, which mainly concerns the protection of the border with Belarus. The current government believes that the wall, built back in the days of "Law and Justice" (IpR), should be radically improved both in terms of its design and equipment with motion sensors with thermal imaging cameras.
It is planned to strengthen the structure in such a way as to make it difficult for violators to unbend the bars and overcome the barrier using ladders. More serious innovations are also expected, namely the creation of a second barrier, which will be built parallel to the existing one and at some distance from it. Perhaps it will not be as strong and large-scale as the main one, but this is not required of it: the second barrier should become another obstacle for those who somehow managed to overcome the "main" border wall. At the same time, a kind of border strip is formed between the two barriers, controlled by the military or border guards.
There is also an intention to deal with the camera and sensor system. The system that the border wall is currently equipped with is actively criticized by the current authorities for the fact that surveillance is now carried out only along the wall and the operator does not see what is happening at some distance from it.
"Today, if someone approaches the wall from the Belarusian side, we simply do not see him, the intruder appears on the monitor only if he tries to overcome the wall," explains our interlocutor from government circles. Other additional security measures are provided.
According to our source, it is planned to build 70-meter observation towers that will allow us to see the territory of Belarus at a depth of 3-4 kilometers, this will allow us to notice a possible concentration of people in time. Towers should be located at different distances from each other depending on the type of terrain. In addition, it is planned to use a drone system.
It is possible to change the law
In addition to changes of a "physical" nature, legal changes are not excluded. This is due to the installation of a second barrier. Its construction would require such changes in the law so that the military and border guards could independently decide how to respond to certain events at the border, including the appearance of a group of migrants between two barriers. "The main goal of Belarus and Russia is destabilization. If we are talking about a small number of illegal migrants, it is not difficult to cope with them, but if they are very large groups, then we will have to protect the border seriously," our interlocutor notes. He adds that European legislation allows such actions if the pressure on the border is assessed as significant.
Efforts to strengthen the border to prevent attempts by large groups of violators to illegally cross it will be concentrated on the border with Belarus. The Polish authorities do not foresee migration problems on the border with the Kaliningrad region. In their opinion, the Russians will not try to reopen a new migration channel in the city, which is a large garrison and allows Russia to flank the EU and NATO countries. The old surveillance system and all the necessary means of protection from a military point of view will remain here.
"Law and Justice" doubts the imminent appearance of the "Shield"
The politicians of the PiS and the Sovereign Poland party do not believe in the imminent implementation of the Shield East project. On Tuesday, two activists of both these formations went to the Ministry of Defense to conduct a parliamentary check: Jacek Ozdoba and Andrzej Slivka. As a result of the inspection, they found that the Shield Vostok project was not supported by any government documents, and conversations in the army and the Department of National Defense on this matter have been going on for years. According to the deputies, no funds have been allocated for the project so far, and even if they are allocated, it will not be immediately, but perhaps for ten years.
"So the Shield of the East is nothing more than the exploitation of what the current government has prepared for their predecessors," Andrzej Slivka claims on his page on the social network X*.
Instagram Facebook (X) and Meta social networks are banned in Russia as extremist, ed.
Authors:Grzegorz Osiecki (Grzegorz Osiecki), Tomasz Zulczak (Tomasz Żółciak)
