East shield. Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz: The project will be long and much more expensive

The east shield is a project to strengthen Poland's immunity for attacks and hybrid war planned for 2024-2028. It provides for strengthening about 800 kilometers of border. He was to cost about PLN 10 billion.

Head of the Ministry of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz He admitted during the Wednesday press conference in the Sejm that the guaranteed amount of about PLN 10 billion will certainly not be an total amount. – There may be much more. I think this is a strategic investment. By 2028 it provides for PLN 10 billion, plus European money – he said. – In 2028 it will not end, because this is not only the border in the north-eastern part, but it also has to stretch much further south, to the entire eastern border of Poland, so the project will be long and much more expensive. There must be a much larger investment – he added.

In the White Book published on Wednesday European Commission She clarified the plan to rearrange Europe presented by the head of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen. Among other things, it is about EUR 150 billion loans for arms projects, loosening the budget discipline of the Member States in the field of defense expenditure and the possibility of moving funds within the EU budget.

The document emphasized that the presence of the American armed forces in Europe contributed to its dependence on USA. “Excessive rely on the protection of the United States weakened Europe's ability to self -defense and its autonomy of action in its own neighborhood. The only way to overcome this dependence is to develop the necessary abilities through joint European projects (…), especially now that the United States is considering changing the approach” – we read.

The EC has indicated seven defensive areas in which the EU has large gaps, the filling she considered to be crucial to strengthen EU defense. The first area is air and missile defense, the second – artillery systems, the third – ammunition and bullets, the fourth – drones and anti -done systems. The fifth area where the EU must focus is is military mobility, the sixth – the use of artificial intelligence and innovative technologies in defense, the seventh – strategic factors supporting defense capabilities and protection of critical infrastructure.

As part of the last area, the “East shield for the protection of the land border” was replaced.

The east shield program assumes the construction of fortifications and natural field obstacles. Construction of fortifications on a section of about 800 kilometers along the eastern and northern border of Poland – will cover the key voivodships, i.e. the Pomeranian, Warmian -Masurian, Lublin, Podlasie and Podkarpackie Voivodeship. Already this year, the construction of the first elements of the East shield on the northern and eastern border of the Republic of Poland will begin.