The measures are part of a broader effort to strengthen the country's civil defence system in response to regional security risks.
The State Fire Service and building authorities have jointly carried out more than 2,000 inspections of potential shelters so far, and over 1,000 protective structures have been assessed as capable of fulfilling their intended role under government regulations.
Officials classify “objects of collective protection” into two broad groups: places of ad hoc shelter and protective structures. Protective structures are further divided into shelters and hideouts, which are subject to technical criteria set in recent regulations.
The inspections sit within the government’s Population Protection and Civil Defence Programme for 2025-2026, which earmarks close to PLN 5 billion (EUR 1.2 billion, USD 1.4 billion) for local governments to improve civil protection, including preparing collective protection sites, upgrading alert and communications systems, and strengthening civil defence.
Under the new population protection and civil defence law, technical opinions and documentation from these reviews will be among the criteria for state co-financing of repairs and upgrades to protective structures.
The law, signed in December last year and in force since January 1, 2025, consolidates civil protection responsibilities under the interior ministry.
Priority investments will go first to areas covered by Eastern Shield project, Poland’s multiyear deterrence and defence programme for the country's eastern frontier, and to cities and sites of particular risk indicated by regional governors.
The defence ministry describes the Eastern Shield project as an initiative to boost resilience to military and hybrid threats through 2028.
The ministry noted that legal regulations enabling the designation of collective protection facilities have already been issued. Renovations will include shelters and hideouts located under schools.
Local authorities are obliged to designate buildings where new protective structures can be created.
The law sets capacity targets for collective protection sites: space for at least half of the projected at-risk population inside cities—of which a quarter should be in protective structures—and for 25 percent outside cities, including 15 percent in protective structures.
Responsibility for arranging ad hoc shelter rests with local government authorities, regional governors and the interior minister. Civil protection authorities may grant subsidies to arrange ad hoc shelters and to adapt underground floors to required standards, with support potentially covering up to 100 percent of the costs, the ministry said.
(rt/gs)
Source: gov.pl