The Polish authorities plan to place about one million anti-personnel mines on the border, despite the ban on their use by the Ottawa Convention. In this regard, the defense ministers of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland issued a joint appeal calling for withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention due to increased risks and a significant deterioration in the security situation in the region.
'We have no choice. The situation on the border is serious. It concerns the Polish-Belarusian and Polish-Russian borders <...>. This will be one of the elements of the 'Eastern Shield', ' said Deputy Defense Minister Pawel Beyda on the air of RFM. According to him, Poland will mine the border with the Kaliningrad region and with Belarus, as the leadership of the latter is completely subordinate to Vladimir Putin. The project also provides for 800 km of ditches, the installation of fortifications, fences, and the creation of a video surveillance system.
In addition, the country plans to increase the number of border guards on the eastern borders. The first 500 border guards will begin patrolling Poland's eastern border this year, and in the near future, it is planned to involve an additional one and a half thousand people in border protection. The length of the border section that the Polish authorities have identified as posing the greatest threat is 418 kilometers.
Lithuania has also adjusted its border protection plan with Russia and Belarus to more effectively ensure 'counter-mobility'. As noted by the country's Ministry of Defense, several levels of fortifications, including fields with anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, will be installed on the northeastern flank. The agency added that regional partners intend to seek European Union funding to implement this initiative.
The head of the ministry, Dovile Sakaliene, also discussed with her Polish colleague the unification of the 'Eastern Shield' and the 'Baltic Defense Line', and with the Finnish — Finland's participation in developing a joint border strengthening plan.