Polish PM urges EU countries to join Poland’s program to beef up border security
Tusk announcing allocation for the program in Krakow on May 18
June 19, Pozirk. European Union countries, including the Baltic states, will most likely join Warsaw’s Shield-East border security program in the next few days, tvp.info reported, citing Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Most European leaders confirmed their willingness to consider investments to secure the EU’s eastern frontier and in particular, the Polish-Belarusian border, Tusk told reporters following an informal EU summit in Brussels yesterday.
“Europe will pay for our security because our security on the border is European security,” he stressed.
Shield-East, designed to prevent an invasion by enemy troops and protect civilians, is the largest program to strengthen Poland’s eastern border since 1945, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, the Polish minister of national defense, said in late May.
The program provides for fortifying about 700 km of the frontier, including 400 km of the border with Belarus, before 2028, according to senior Polish defense official Cezary Tomczyk.
Tusk announced in Krakow on May 18 the allocation of $2.54 billion for the program with additional investments expected in the first quarter of 2025.
Illegal Belarus-EU crossing attempts exceed 3,000 in June
June 19, Pozirk. Since June 1, the European Union countries have not allowed at least 3,167 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus, Pozirk‘s analysis of border guards’ data showed. Tension at the border fell 30 percent compared with the same …