(Bloomberg) -- Poland is preparing to spend billions of zloty on civil defense as the European Union nation ramps up its capabilities in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
With the Kremlin’s campaign in its third year, Warsaw has tabled a number of initiatives and plans to strengthen the country’s eastern frontier from hybrid threats from Russia and Belarus.
The government is now seeking to establish coordination of agencies in the event of an emergency and address calls from state auditors for a legal act comprehensibly regulating all issues relating to the population’s protection.
“This is a revolutionary project, it changes the civil protection system,” Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said Wednesday in an interview with Public Radio 1. The plan involves “multi-billion costs,” he said.
The administration aims to set up procedures based on existing resources and structures, including the fire and health services, as well as emergency notification processes and crisis-management arrangements.
The draft legislation also seeks the active participation of local municipalities, which would be tasked with developing plans for the evacuation of civilians. They should also list cultural heritage items, as well as the means of forces and transportation that can be used for operations.
“Money is a problem that is also on the table here, because it is an expensive system,” Siemoniak said.
In May, Prime Minister Donald Tusk outlined 10 billion zloty ($2.5 billion) in investment to upgrade a wall along the Belarus border set up by the previous administration with several layers of obstacles, including anti-tank barriers, trenches and fortifications.
Along with leaders from Baltic states, Tusk urged the EU to step up support for an initiative to bolster defenses on the bloc’s eastern frontier.
In a joint effort with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Tusk also submitted in May a proposal to European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen to lead a charge in creating a common air defense shield that would be financed by the EU.
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