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As a deterrent: Poland and other former Soviet states want to expand their borders with Russia. Warsaw has now presented a strategy for this.
Warsaw – Poland and the Baltic States want to strengthen eastern bordersto increase the security of the entire region. Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, which border either the Russian exclave Kaliningrad or the pro-Russian Belarus, want to enable defense against Russian attacks, as the Business Insider reported. The planned NATO-Defense line should consist of seven layers.
A diagram presented by the Polish Ministry of Defense shows various types of defense in succession: a fence, barbed wire, an anti-tank ditch, a field of anti-tank obstacles (so-called hedgehogs), mines, another ditch and vegetation. In addition, defense systems for drones are to be installed and existing warning and tracking systems are to be expanded.
A second diagram shows that the area after the complex border is around 50 kilometers wide. Among other things, signal towers, civil defense bunkers and material storage facilities are planned here. Places that can be deliberately destroyed completely stop the advance of enemy troops, but overall the facility is intended to enable the advance of one’s own troops.
Largest expansion of NATO borders since World War II
The Polish Defense Ministry calls the expansion “Eastern Shield” in its strategy paper. It is NATO’s largest since the end of World War II in 1945. The plan also states that not all borders will be strengthened to the same extent; in total, Poland’s plan involves around 255 kilometers of border with Russia and 400 kilometers with Belarus. Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced that work on the border will begin this year and be completed by 2018. He also estimates the cost at 2.56 billion dollars.
The Baltic States, it says in the Business Insider further, are planning fortifications, including bunkers, on the borders with Russia. In addition to Poland and the Baltic states, other NATO states such as Finland and Norway are also said to be planning a drone wall.
“Eastern Shield” against Russia: Main goal of deterrence
First and foremost, Poland wants to use the “Eastern Shield” to gain further protection from surprise attacks and to make it more difficult for enemy troops to advance. In Poland, which borders both the Russian-invaded Ukraine and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, fears have grown that Moscow could also attack Warsaw. It shares this impression with the Baltic states, which, like Poland, were once in Soviet hands. The four-way team therefore represents one of Ukraine’s greatest allies.
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