Armament at borders

“Avoid surprise”: Poland strengthens its military

Poland is installing a "rapid border reaction force".

(Bild: AFP/PETRAS MALUKAS)

Poland is planning to strengthen its military presence and defense systems on its borders with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and its eastern neighbor Belarus. A shortened timetable and significantly more troops are intended to contain Russian aggression.

The current number of almost 6,000 soldiers is to be increased to up to 17,000, explained the Chief of the General Staff of the Polish army, General Wieslaw Kukula, on Wednesday. 8,000 soldiers are to be on site, he added.

Poland wants to avoid "surprises"
A further 9,000 are to be deployed there within 48 hours as a "rapid border reaction force". The measure is intended to support the border guards on the ground, ward off possible "surprises" from Moscow and Minsk and protect and support the construction of important defense infrastructure, explained Kukula. This is not only about Poland's security, "but also that of the Baltic states".

Poland has one of the most powerful armies in the NATO alliance:

"Everyone is aware of the dangerousness of the situation, I'm thinking here of the war in Ukraine and what the Russian Federation is doing," Polish Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk told journalists. He referred to the "constant provocations" on the border between Poland and Belarus, which forms the external border of the EU and NATO.

Timetable significantly shortened
Instead of 2032 as initially planned, the project's goals are to be achieved by 2028. Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk recently announced that Warsaw would invest more than two billion euros in securing its border with Russia and Belarus as part of the project.

Since the start of the Russian war in Ukraine in February 2022, Poland and the Baltic states have been among the staunch supporters of Ukraine.

In the face of the Russian threat, Warsaw has initiated a rapid modernization of its army, increased its defence budget and invested billions of dollars in military equipment, mainly from the USA and South Korea.