Poland’s Eastern Shield will extend to Ukraine border alongside Russia, Belarus - PM Tusk

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated this, Polskie Radio reports.

"Everything we are doing here, as well as on the border with Belarus and Ukraine, is aimed at deterring and scaring away a possible aggressor, so it is really an investment in peace. We will spend billions of zlotys on this, but now the whole of Europe is watching with great pleasure and will support these investments and our activities if necessary. Our activities also concern the security of the border with Ukraine - for other reasons, but we want Poles to feel safer along the entire length of the eastern border," Tusk said during a visit to the first section of the fortifications.

He emphasized that thanks to the construction of the Eastern Shield, the Warmian-Masurian, Podlaskie, Lublin, and Subcarpathian Voivodeships, located in Poland's border regions, will become safer.

"The better Poland's border is secured, the less accessible it is to those with bad intentions," Tusk stated.

The Prime Minister assured that the Baltic region countries will cooperate with Poland to make this infrastructure effective not only on Polish sections but along the entire border, "primarily with Russia and Belarus."

For reference: The Eastern Shield is a program developed by the Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces. It involves the construction of various types of fortifications, terrain barriers, and military infrastructure along Poland's borders with Russia and Belarus. The total length is approximately 800 km. The plan also includes the creation of reconnaissance and threat detection systems, advanced bases, logistical hubs, warehouses, and the deployment of anti-drone systems.

• During his visit to Bratislava, Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz invited Slovakia to participate in the Eastern Shield project.