COLD WAR REDUX? Report: Poland to Build Watchtowers Along Border With Russia

2015-04-07T10:08:34-04:00

A Polish news agency is reporting that the country plans to build six watchtowers along its border with Kaliningrad, a move that comes after Moscow said it will place state-of-the-art Iskander missiles in the Russia exclave.

The Polish news agency PAP on Monday cited a spokeswoman for border guards, Miroslawa Aleksandrowicz, as saying that six such towers would be built along the 200-kilometer (125-mile) border between Poland and Kaliningrad.

The move comes amid heightened tensions between Russia and the West over the Ukraine conflict.

Aleksandrowicz said that the cost of constructing the towers in Poland, which is on the European Union's eastern flank, would be at least 14 million zlotys ($3.8 million). Most of that is to come from EU funds.

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Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 7 at 2015 9:19 PM

2015-04-07T21:19:00-04:00

With all the sabre rattling going on in Russia these days, SSG Norman Lihou, I don't blame Poland one little bit for trying to ensure their border is secure. I suspect that Russia will never play nice. Like Iran and North Korea - but on a larger scale and as a one-time world super power - Russia always seems to want to "stir the pot," to agitate. I understand they are unhappy with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. I assume that's what's fueling these provocative measures and actions.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 7 at 2015 9:30 PM

2015-04-07T21:30:28-04:00

Good idea, Poland.
Although I'd ask why bother with six towers to watch 200km of border.

There is only one reason for Russia to stage those kind of weapons in East Prussia (as a good German I know where that land used to belong), and that is to intimidate Poland and the Baltic States. The message is clear: side with NATO, and this is what can happen to you.
The Poles remember that during the same war that saw East Prussia amputated from Germany, 1/3 of Poland's land area was also absorbed into the Soviet Union. The Russians were just fine with keeping the spoils on their side of the Nazi-Soviet Pact Line. Few remember that Stalin wanted to keep all of East Prussia, and was persuaded to keep only half (the half with Kaliningrad (Koenigsberg), a port) in it. In return, the Soviets confiscated the far eastern tip of Czechoslovakia.

Lots of wars have been fought in that area. Aggressors from North (Sweden, Lithuania), South (Hungary, Austria-Hungary), West (Prussia, France, Germany), and East (Mongols, Muscovy, Kievian Rus, Soviet Union) have all overrun the area. The Poles would be wise to watch their borders carefully.