This strategic defense plan is part of a broader effort to bolster Poland’s military readiness amid rising border security challenges, including significant increases in unauthorized border crossings this year.
According to the money.pl news outlet, it combines traditional fortifications with advanced monitoring and reconnaissance technologies, and aims to integrate Polish companies in developing a comprehensive security framework. The project involves both the defense and interior ministries.
One component of the project costing PLN 1.5 billion złoty (€351 million) will include 70-meter-high watch towers, enabling border guards to see into Belarus and make decisions on how to handle incursions on the 400 km border with Belarus and Russia. The total cost of the fortifications is PLN 10 billion (€2.3 billion).
The project will bolster and improve the fortifications built during the last Law and Justice (PiS) administration. The new design will make it difficult to place ladders on the current barrier, while a second barrier will be built to create a border area between the two barriers, which will slow down any incursion.
The electronic surveillance system will also be enhanced to detect incursions well before they approach the barrier, not just near it, providing border guards with more advanced notice.
Plans also call for 70-meter observation towers, which will allow for a view of Belarusian territory at a distance of 3-4 km to monitor any potential concentrations. The towers will be placed at various distances from each other, depending on the type of terrain. A drone system will additionally be used as reinforcement, according to a source from money.pl.
As far as the border with the Kaliningrad region of Russia is concerned, the project will concentrate less on anti-illegal migration measures and more on military fortifications.
PiS politicians have doubts about whether the planned fortifications will be in place any time soon. They point to the lack of resources dedicated to the project over the coming months and years. PiS claims the project is an attempt to simply freshen up the fortifications built during its time in office.
