Poland has long distrusted Russia and its ally Belarus. Prime Minister Tusk has now announced that the “entire eastern border” will be secured with new fortifications. He also expects investments from the EU.
The Polish eastern border is to be strengthened. Prime Minister Donald Tusk justified this with the pressure that the regime in neighboring Belarus is creating through organized migration and the growing danger from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
Tusk did not provide any details about the planned measures or the funds earmarked for them. When it comes to Poland’s security, there will be “no borders,” the head of government said in front of border guards and soldiers in Karakule on the Polish-Belarusian border.
Government hopes for investments
The NATO and EU state Poland borders Belarus, which is an ally of Russia, to the east. The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad also borders Poland. Tusk said the new fortifications would be built along the “entire eastern border,” including the borders with Ukraine and Russia. The construction work has already begun.
“It is not only the internal border of Poland, but also the border of the EU. That is why I have no doubt that the whole of Europe must invest in its security by investing in Poland’s eastern border and in the security of our border,” Tusk said.
The map shows the Polish border sections with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and Belarus
Bunkers and trenches announced
Poland’s current defense minister, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, recently said his country would build bunkers and trenches on its border with Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
As early as the summer of 2022, the previous government in Warsaw, which was led by the national-conservative PiS, secured the land sections of the 418-kilometer-long border with Belarus with a 5.5-meter-high fence and an electronic surveillance system.
Tusk sees aggressive intentions in Belarus
The relationship between Poland and the authoritarian Belarus has been tense for a long time. Poland is one of the most important military supporters of Ukraine, which is attacked by Russia. Belarus is a close ally of Moscow.
Poland and the EU accuse the Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of having been bringing migrants from crisis regions to the EU’s external border in an organized manner since 2021 in order to put pressure on the West. According to the Polish border guard, there are around 300 attempts to illegally cross the border between the two neighbors every day.
“The Polish-Belarusian border is a unique place due to the pressure of illegal immigration. In fact, we are dealing with an ongoing hybrid war,” said Tusk during his visit to Karakule today. Belarus is involved in this practice and has increasingly aggressive intentions towards Poland.
Border guards picked up deserter
Recently, tensions between the two countries had worsened further. At the beginning of the week, a Polish judge fled to Belarus and asked for asylum there. Since he also had access to secret documents, the Polish public prosecutor’s office is now investigating him on suspicion of working for a foreign secret service.
Shortly after the judge’s escape, Polish border guards in the border area with Belarus picked up a deserted Russian soldier who had previously been on combat duty in Ukraine. He had mingled with the migrants in civilian clothing in order to illegally cross the border into Poland with them.