At 00:00 on 20 February 2026, Poland’s six-month withdrawal notice from the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty took legal effect. Almost immediately, Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters that the army can now seed minefields along the 418-km border with Belarus and the 210-km border with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave “within 48 hours” should an invasion threat materialise. Deputy Defence Minister Paweł Zalewski added that domestic production lines for modern, self-deactivating mines will restart this quarter.
Warsaw argues that the step is necessary because Russia—never a signatory—has used mines extensively in Ukraine and could attempt incursions via Belarus. The mine option is part of the PLN 10 billion “East Shield” fortification programme, which also includes anti-drone batteries and motion-sensor fences.
Human-rights organisations such as the International Campaign to Ban Landmines have condemned the decision, warning that even smart mines risk civilian injury and could hamper cross-border trade once detonated stocks must be cleared. The Foreign Ministry insists that any deployment would stay inside a security strip already closed to tourists and that detailed GIS maps would allow rapid post-crisis clearance.
![Exit from Ottawa Convention lets Poland deploy anti-personnel mines along eastern frontier within 48 hours]()
For travellers and companies that still need to move personnel through Poland amid these fast-changing rules, VisaHQ can help simplify the process. Its portal (https://www.visahq.com/poland/) provides up-to-date visa guidance, tracks government advisories, and can arrange the necessary Polish documentation or extensions while flagging new security-zone restrictions as they appear.
From a mobility standpoint, the announcement raises two immediate issues. First, the interior ministry is expected to prolong—and possibly widen—the existing 56-km exclusion zone that bars non-residents from large swaths of Podlaskie and Lubelskie voivodships, affecting eco-tourism operators and transport companies that use minor crossing points. Second, insurers have begun adding “armed-conflict” exclusions to corporate travel policies that cover trips to the borderlands. Multinationals with factories in Białystok, Suwałki or Hajnówka are reviewing evacuation plans and verifying satellite-phone stocks.
EU partners have so far issued muted reactions, but diplomats in Brussels say Poland could face funding claw-backs for border-infrastructure projects if mines render partly EU-financed roads unusable. The defence ministry counters that the new mines meet NATO interoperability standards and would be lifted once the East Shield is fully sensor-based in 2028.
Warsaw argues that the step is necessary because Russia—never a signatory—has used mines extensively in Ukraine and could attempt incursions via Belarus. The mine option is part of the PLN 10 billion “East Shield” fortification programme, which also includes anti-drone batteries and motion-sensor fences.
Human-rights organisations such as the International Campaign to Ban Landmines have condemned the decision, warning that even smart mines risk civilian injury and could hamper cross-border trade once detonated stocks must be cleared. The Foreign Ministry insists that any deployment would stay inside a security strip already closed to tourists and that detailed GIS maps would allow rapid post-crisis clearance.
For travellers and companies that still need to move personnel through Poland amid these fast-changing rules, VisaHQ can help simplify the process. Its portal (https://www.visahq.com/poland/) provides up-to-date visa guidance, tracks government advisories, and can arrange the necessary Polish documentation or extensions while flagging new security-zone restrictions as they appear.
From a mobility standpoint, the announcement raises two immediate issues. First, the interior ministry is expected to prolong—and possibly widen—the existing 56-km exclusion zone that bars non-residents from large swaths of Podlaskie and Lubelskie voivodships, affecting eco-tourism operators and transport companies that use minor crossing points. Second, insurers have begun adding “armed-conflict” exclusions to corporate travel policies that cover trips to the borderlands. Multinationals with factories in Białystok, Suwałki or Hajnówka are reviewing evacuation plans and verifying satellite-phone stocks.
EU partners have so far issued muted reactions, but diplomats in Brussels say Poland could face funding claw-backs for border-infrastructure projects if mines render partly EU-financed roads unusable. The defence ministry counters that the new mines meet NATO interoperability standards and would be lifted once the East Shield is fully sensor-based in 2028.
