Speaking at a news conference in Połowce on the Belarus border alongside Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński, Tomczyk said the sites will hold engineering components to secure frontiers with Russia, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine, while the hubs will coordinate with Interior Ministry services and civilian agencies to keep forces ready.
Tomczyk said the government wants local companies to benefit.
“We are spending billions of zlotys within East Shield and want most of the funds to stay in the eastern and northern voivodeships,” he said, adding that nearby suppliers and short supply chains are also a security asset.
The cabinet approved the National Deterrence and Defense Program East Shield in June 2024 with a 2024–2028 budget of PLN 10 billion (EUR 2.3 billion).
The plan covers roughly 800 km of borders with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine and includes fortifications, natural obstacles, reconnaissance and threat-detection systems, forward bases, logistics nodes, depots and anti-drone deployments.
The aim is to ease a potential defense of the frontier and complicate any incursion.
Major General Marek Wawrzyniak, who oversees the army’s engineering work on the project, said monitoring drone activity, counter-drone measures and “counter-mobility”—actions to block or halt an adversary—are key pillars enabling operations. He added the Baltic Defense Line and East Shield should function as a single system.
Tomczyk said Poland is a vanguard among countries building such defenses, noting similar efforts in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, and long-standing work in Finland.
The program is being consulted with the United Kingdom and the United States, which are sharing experience with the Polish military, while Poland is passing lessons to Baltic partners.
Initial field tests of East Shield elements took place in mid-October 2024 at the country’s northern Orzysz training area, and late last year the prime minister announced the first works had begun on the border with Russia.
(jh)
Source: PAP