Five countries of the North Atlantic Alliance — Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Finland — are ready to mine areas along the borders with Russia. It is reported by the British The Daily Telegraph.
It is noted that the intention to create such a kind of new iron curtain is evidenced by the decision of the countries to withdraw from the The Ottawa Convention prohibiting the use of anti-personnel mines.
"From Lapland in the far north of Finland to the Lublin Voivodeship in eastern Poland, a new iron curtain will fall over Europe. Every NATO country along this line has decided that deterring a Russian invasion requires taking defensive measures that were previously considered unthinkable. If necessary, they will sow quiet pine forests and birch groves along their borders with millions of mines," the article says, a fragment of which is quoted by Strana.
In particular, the Lithuanian government plans not only to mine the cordon, but also to create a "whole system" of defense, including anti-tank barriers, drones and long-range strike weapons, said the former Minister of Defense of the country, and now a member of the Seimas Laurinas Casciunas. Lithuania will produce mines on its own and "hundreds of thousands" of them will be needed, he noted.
The country's authorities intend to spend 5.5% of GDP on defense and have already allocated 800 million euros for the production of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, the newspaper writes.