Poland fortifies its borders and buys US cruise missiles
Poland wants to expand defence capabilities with “shield east”
Poland wants to equip its eastern border with a new protective shield against potential Russian attacks. More fortifications, barriers and state-of-the-art airspace surveillance systems are being installed.
In order to protect its eastern borders against attacks, Poland has decided to create the “Eastern Shield”. The fortifications cost more than two billion euros. At the same time, modern missiles that can fly as far as Russia are being purchased from the USA.
MWith a multi-billion dollar project, Poland wants to fortify its eastern border and secure it against possible attacks. The “Shield East” program is the largest operation to strengthen Poland’s eastern border and NATO’s eastern flank since 1945, said Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz on Monday in Warsaw. Plans include “fortifications, various types of barriers, but also state-of-the-art airspace surveillance systems in every parameter and at every altitude” on the border, which is also an external border of the EU.
The program includes investments equivalent to 2.3 billion euros. Work on border sections totaling 700 kilometers in length is scheduled to be completed by 2028.
At the same time, Poland is investing in state-of-the-art US cruise missiles worth 677 million euros. The war in Ukraine has shown “how important it is to be able to fire missiles at targets far from the front line,” the Ministry of Defense said. With the purchase of weapons, Warsaw wants to strengthen its defense capabilities to ward off a possible Russian threat.
The new missiles have a range of around 1,000 kilometers. The JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile) air-to-surface cruise missiles are to be delivered from Washington to Warsaw between 2026 and 2030.
The main goal is deterrence, but also preparation for the defense of the border, stressed Chief of General Staff Wieslaw Kukula. The aim is to increase protection against possible surprise attacks, to make the mobility of enemy troops more difficult and to improve that of the army itself. Both soldiers and the civilian population should also be better protected.
Selenskyj demands approval for pre-emptive strike
Poland, an EU and NATO member, borders Ukraine in the east, which has been attacked by Russia and which receives military support from Warsaw. It also shares a border with authoritarian Belarus, an ally of Moscow. It also borders the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad in the northeast. In the course of the Ukraine war, fears have grown in Warsaw that Poland could be attacked by Russia. Because of its support for Ukraine, Poland is viewed by the Kremlin as an enemy.
Following the deadly bombings of the border city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is demanding the right to use Western weapons against Russian territory. Many foreign politicians and organizations have expressed their condolences and condemned Russia, Zelenskyy said in his video address on Sunday. “It is important that this condemnation leads to appropriate consequences.”
“Decision must be made” – Selenskyj for preventive strikes against Russia
Source: dpa/Uncredited
He continued: “We see every concentration point of Russian troops. We know all the areas where Russian missiles and fighter jets are launched.” It is a political decision to allow the preventive destruction of these forces before they attack Ukraine. “A decision that must be made.” In addition, the promised US F-16 fighter jets should be delivered more quickly.
According to official figures, more than 20 people have been killed in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, by Russian air bombardment since Thursday. At the same time, heavy bombing near Kharkiv, as in other sectors of the front, continued on Sunday.
The use of foreign weapons against Russian territory has long been debated in western donor countries. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on member states to allow Ukraine to carry out such operations for self-protection. Great Britain has released the weapons it supplies for this purpose.
On behalf of the USA, Foreign Minister Antony Blinken recently said in Kiev that there is no ban, but that his country does not support this use. In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) opposes the use of weapons across the border into Russia. The reason for this is the fear that Germany could become a party to the war.