Poland aims for 1M mines on borders with Russia, Belarus

ATHENS

Poland aims for up to one million mines on borders with Russia and Belarus, announced the country’s deputy defense minister, as reported by local media on Thursday.

Recalling that the country, along with the Baltic states, announced on Tuesday to withdraw from the Mine Ban Treaty of 1997, Pawel Bejda argued the move is related to the very serious and real security threat the country faces at its frontiers with Russia and Belarus.

"We presently have no anti-personnel mines but have the capacity to produce them, with joint efforts of public and private arms enterprises," he added.

Bejda noted that bolstering security at the borders is part of Poland’s "Eastern Shield" project to reinforce its section of NATO’s eastern flank.