-72b63a4e0c8c475ad81fe3eed3f63729.jpeg "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
Poland has officially unveiled a newly operational anti-drone system along its heavily fortified border with Belarus, TVP.info reported on March 12.
During the system’s launch, Minister of the Interior and Administration Marcin Kierwiński issued a direct public appeal to President Karol Nawrocki. Kierwiński urged the president to immediately sign pending legislation that would unlock critical European Union security funds, arguing the money is essential to finance and expand this exact type of modern border defense.
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Speaking from the town of Ozierany Wielkie in the Podlaskie region, Kierwiński showcased the first Polish system designed specifically to detect and recognize unauthorized flying objects, including drones. Standing before one of the network’s newly erected support towers, the minister noted that he and Prime Minister Donald Tusk had promised the rapid deployment of this border infrastructure at the beginning of 2026.
However, the focus of the presentation quickly shifted to an ongoing political standoff over how to finance these exact types of border defenses. Kierwiński urged the president to end what he called a “barren dispute” and approve the law implementing the EU SAFE program. The legislation would establish a dedicated fund within Poland’s state development bank (BGK) to manage incoming EU loan funds, according to TVP.info.
“From this place where we see the first anti-drone system on the Polish border, I want to make it clear and appeal once again to the President: the Polish border, Polish officers need modern equipment,” Kierwiński stated. “Money from SAFE is supposed to build these types of systems.”
President Nawrocki has until March 20 to make a final decision on the law. Rather than signing the EU framework, Nawrocki, alongside National Bank of Poland (NBP) President Adam Glapiński, has proposed a domestic financial alternative dubbed “Polish SAFE 0 percent.”
The pressure on President Nawrocki to approve the EU funding framework comes amid a historic, multi-billion-dollar overhaul of Poland’s air and border defenses. Warsaw had recently signed a massive $4.2 billion defense contract to acquire the advanced SAN anti-drone system, which is capable of autonomously detecting, classifying, and neutralizing hostile unmanned aerial vehicles.
This sweeping modernization effort is part of $70 billion national defense investment aimed at securing NATO's eastern flank. With Russian drones repeatedly breaching Polish airspace over the past year and hybrid threats escalating along the Belarusian border, Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government has stressed that the incoming European SAFE funds are absolutely critical to sustaining the financial momentum of this unprecedented military buildup without crippling the domestic budget.
-111f0e5095e02c02446ffed57bfb0ab1.jpeg "Photo of Roman Kohanets")