Warsaw and Baltic NATO states previously called for lifting a ban on types of landmine, citing a perceived threat from Russia
Anti-tank concrete fortifications at the Polish-Russian border © Getty Images
Poland has announced plans to deploy anti-personnel landmines Warsaw had previously banned along its border with Russia and Belarus, citing concern about a potential Russian assault. Moscow has repeatedly denied having any intention of attacking EU or NATO countries.
Earlier this week NATO’s eastern European members Poland, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania announced a proposal to exit the Ottawa Treaty, which prohibits the use of anti-personnel mines and to which they were all signatories.
Speaking to local radio on Tuesday, Polish Deputy Defense Minister Pawel Bejda explained that Warsaw plans to mine the country’s frontiers with Belarus and Russia, whose Kaliningrad exclave shares a 144-mile border with Poland, as part of a $2.6 billion ‘Eastern Shield’ project.
“We have no choice,” Bejda told RMF24, adding that it will allow the country’s defense industry to produce up to one million new landmines.
The Polish government has also announced plans to intensify the fortification of its borders, including with anti-tank obstacles and reinforced defensive positions.
Beyond landmines, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has also suggested that Warsaw should acquire its own nuclear weapons.
Moscow has repeatedly ridiculed Western claims that it intends to attack NATO or EU states, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed such statements as “nonsense.” He has also suggested that the supposed threat of a Russian attack is being used by European politicians to scare their citizens in order to extract more resources from them and justify increased military spending.
Meanwhile, Russian officials have also blasted the EU’s increasing militarization as reckless and escalatory. Earlier this month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that the confrontational rhetoric and plans coming out of Brussels and European capitals could hamper the chances of finding a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict.