POLOWCE, Poland (AP) – Poland’s six-month presidency of the European Union is firmly focused on security. As Europe´s biggest land war in decades rages, fewer places highlight the challenges and contradictions of defending the bloc and its values more starkly than the border with Belarus.
Some 13,000 border guards and soldiers protect around 400 kilometers (250 miles) of border. It´s become a buffer zone since Belarus´ ally, Russia, invaded neighboring Ukraine three years ago. Similar fortifications farther north line Poland’s frontier with the Russian region of Kaliningrad.
Poland is Ukraine´s top logistical backer. Most of the Western-supplied arms, ammunition and equipment helping to keep Ukraine´s armed forces afloat transit through. Russia, meanwhile, uses Belarus as a staging ground for its invasion.
At the border near the town of Polowce, a 5.5-meter…
