HELSINKI (AP) – NATO members Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland will seek European Union funding to build a network of bunkers, barriers, power lines and military warehouses along their borders with Russia and Belarus. Estonian officials made the announcement on Saturday.
The Baltic states initially announced the “Baltic Defense Line” concept in January. In May, Poland announced a similar project called “Eastern Shield” aimed at strengthening its borders with the Russian enclaves of Kaliningrad and Belarus.
“The need for a (Baltic) defense line arises from the security situation and we support NATO's new forward defense concept,” Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said in a statement. It is extremely important to adjust the
“At the same time, it strengthens the security of the European Union and the military defense of its borders. We therefore clearly understand that the EU can also financially support this project,” he said.
Defense ministers from the four European countries on NATO's eastern flank met on Friday in the southeastern Latvian city of Daugavpils to discuss funding for the project.
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland did not say how much funding they were seeking from Brussels for the project, but the joint statement said: “Russia's war against Ukraine means that the “It is clear that this will create physical obstacles.” Natural defensive cover is paramount even in technologically advanced warfare. ”
Ministers said external threats in the Baltic Sea and Polish border areas are increasing and that the strengthening of fortifications along the borders with Russia and Belarus is “in line with our commitment to defend every inch of[NATO]territory.” “It remains our top priority to contribute.”
Estonia, the smallest of the four countries with a population of 1.3 million, plans to build a border defense line in three stages starting in 2025, the Ministry of Defense announced.
Tallinn officials said earlier this year that Estonia would build up to 600 bunkers along its 333-kilometer (207-mile) border with Russia over the next few years at an estimated cost of 60 million euros ($67 million). announced that it was planned. But the project is likely to face difficulties and delays because the bunker would need to be built on private land.
The Baltic and Polish defense lines do not include the coastal defenses of the Baltic Sea, which are shared by the four countries. Estonian defense officials say no land mines, barbed wire, anti-tank weapons or other similar devices are deployed along the border fortifications during peacetime.
