Europe is preparing for war, but Poland is taking the threat to new territories

In a remote corner of northeastern Poland, engineering work began this week on a multibillion-dollar project to build the “Eastern Shield” – a smart fence, accompanied by anti-tank trenches, bunkers and remote control systems – designed to disrupt Russian plans tothat it is possible for the country to protect it from illegal immigration.

The Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, published on the social network X a photo of two engineering tools of the Polish army, which began the excavation work. The initial cost of the project is about 2.5 billion dollars, but it should grow significantly. Tusk called it a “new iron curtain” descending on Europe, this time intended for defense from the east.

A sophisticated barrier fence

Poland is one of the countries where the fear of an imminent Russian invasion is the highest. The common border with Belarus, a dear allyA portion of Moscow, and the common border with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, and between them the “Sobalki Pass”, are considered the “soft underbelly” in the event of a Russian invasion operation. Minsk has so far proven that it is fully cooperating with Russia, and has also agreed to place Russian nuclear weapons on its territory, as a deterrent. Kaliningrad is actually Russia’s “forward weapons depot”, analysts estimate.

NATO forces practiced in the border area how they are thereWater the Russian forces possible until the influx of forces from the west. The country’s government aims to build the “largest army in Europe” in just six years, and spends more than 4% of its GDP on security. Poland has tripled its military spending in only about a decade, and the authorities plan to double the number of soldiers in the Polish army to 300 A thousand in the next decade.

As part of these efforts, the country announced last summer the construction of a sophisticated barrier fence along its 650-kilometer border with Belarus and Kaliningrad. Simulations published in the Polish media show that the obstacle will consist of a metal and concrete fence, followed by concertinas and anti-tank ditches, as well as bunkers for active border protection and other tools designed to delay or disrupt the movement of tanks. In the past, the Poles reported on a joint plan with the Baltic states to build a “drone wall” that would operate along the new barrier, with the aim of detecting and dealing with infiltrations.

“Stay away from Poland”

Until recently, Poland’s border with Belarus was not fenced at all. This changed after the Ukraine war broke out nearly three years ago, and after Minsk and Moscow began “sending” Asian and African refugees who received visas across the deserted border with Poland and Lithuania. Clashes developed in the border areas, which included shooting, stabbings andEven deaths in frictions between the refugees and the police. Together with the fear of Russia, this resulted in the need for a more significant deterrent.

According to the reports, the current project will also include listening devices and permanent visual monitoring, which will use AI to identify threats. The width of the obstacle strip is expected to be about 200 meters. Construction should be completed in 2028.

The nature of the obstacle makes it more suitable for dealing with asylum seeker infiltrations than dealing with a massive armored invasion, but it may be upgraded in the future. Prime Minister Tusk said it was a warning to Poland’s enemies – “Stay away from Poland,” he announced in May, announcing the project. The British media defined the project as the “biggest security operation” in the modern history of Poland, after the breakup of the Soviet bloc. The fact that Poland is simultaneously purchasing hundreds of Abrams tanks, F-35s and Apache helicopters has made the country the darling of the Americans, who have also transferred some of the forces that were previously stationed in Germany to it.

“Some politicians in the West will look at this project with shock,” said Polish President Andrzej Duda in an interview with The Sunday Times last month, “The last thing they want to see is the rebuilding of the Iron Curtain. But I say this: if we can To ensure the security of my people through a renewed Iron Curtain, so it’s fine that we be on the free side of it.”

Europe is preparing for war

At the same time, the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are also preparing for a possible war with Russia, and announced earlier this year the construction of the “Baltic Defense Line” starting in 2025. This line, which will probably be financed by the European Union, will include bunkers, supply routes in case of a frontal conflict and emergency warehouses. NATO is practicingRites of a possible invasion in Lithuania, and the German army announced the permanent deployment of troops in the Baltic country, in order to strengthen its defense.

These preparations are coordinated at the level of the European Union, against the background of assessments made by the defense ministers of the European countries according to which a Russian invasion is possible in the time frame of the next decade.

In the past week, Sweden and Finland, which joined NATO during the past year and are also afraid of a Russian invasion, published the civil defense brochures that the authorities publish periodically. Even in the past, while the countries maintained neutrality, they prepared for a possible war, but this time the brochures were thicker and recommendations were added. Among other things, the residents of the Nordic countries received instructions on how much water to store in case of an emergency, how to deal with lack of communication, backup of medicines and more.

Stockholm authorities said this is the fifth edition of the book published after World War II, and that it now “places an increased focus on preparing for war,” as opposed to ecological or nuclear crises. Norway and Denmark also sent similar brochures earlier this year to parents’ homes in the countries.

In Germany, the media revealed in the last day that the German army began to contact companies and “prepare them for a situation of war”. In such a situation, among other things, there will be a shortage of workers, the transit routes will be disrupted, and the companies are required to “demonstrate security for the workers”. The preparation is based on a document of about a thousand pages, part of which is secret, which includes, among other things, the list of buildings that require protection all over Germany.

According to the scenarios included in the document, Germany may become the transit country for the majority of NATO forces that will be sent to the East in the event of a Russian invasion of a member state of the organization, which will require it to make many logistical adjustments. Among the recommendations, “train five employees for every 100 employees to drive a truck in case of emergency” and prepare generators According to a report in the FAZ newspaper, Germany estimates that Russia will be “ready to invade” NATO within four or five years.