In 1946, Winston Churchill declared that an "Iron Curtain" had descended over Europe "from Szczecin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic". This time, the West is building the barriers.
Every European country bordering Russia and its ally Belarus is accelerating plans to build hundreds of miles of fortified border to protect itself from possible Russian aggression. The reasons are clear. Europe's post-Cold War security system, based on stronger international institutions and trade, NATO expansion and US military guarantees, is crumbling. This is what Natasha Lindstedt, a professor at the University of Essex, wrote in an article for The Conversation.
Finland
With a 1,340km border with Russia, Finland has proposed building a wall in 2023 that would cover about 15% of its border. It will cost more than $400 million and is hoped to be completed by 2026.
This is partly due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but also to the increasing number of Russians fleeing to Finland to avoid military service. In July 2023, the Finnish government passed a law to build stronger and higher fences, as previous wooden fences were designed only to prevent livestock from crossing. Eight border posts have been erected (including one north of the Arctic Circle), along with larger fences in the southernmost part of the country.
Defenses are even being built in remote areas of northeastern Finland, where in the not-so-distant past a steady stream of Russians and Finns regularly crossed the border to buy groceries.
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland
Finland is not the first. In August 2015, Estonia announced that it would build a fence along its eastern border with Russia, following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
In 2024, the Baltic states and Poland have proposed further strengthening their borders by building a defensive wall. It will stretch for 700 km and cost over £2 billion. Plans and construction are now accelerating as Baltic leaders worry that the prospects of a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia could mean Moscow will redirect its military forces towards them.
Latvia will invest around $350 million over the next few years to strengthen its 240-kilometer border with Russia, while Lithuania is planning a 30-kilometer defensive line against a possible Russian invasion. Poland has begun building a permanent fence on its border with Belarus as part of its defense against potential allies of Moscow.
These walls will be supplemented by other physical barriers such as anti-tank ditches, 15-ton concrete dragon teeth (which can stop the advance of Russian tanks), massive concrete blocks and pyramids, roadblocks, massive metal gates, minefields and blocked bridgeheads.
Lithuania plans to build up to 48 km. of drainage canals, bridges prepared for bombing, and trees designed to fall on roads when necessary.
The Baltic states are also building over 1,000 bunkers, ammunition dumps and supply shelters to further protect the 967 km of territory bordering Russia. The bunkers are expected to be about 36 square meters in size, can accommodate up to ten soldiers, and can withstand artillery strikes from Russia.
The Baltic states, as well as Finland and Poland, also announced in 2025 that they would withdraw from the 1997 international treaty banning anti-personnel mines, while Lithuania withdrew its commitment to the cluster bomb treaty. Poland announced in June 2025 that it had added minefields to its plans for the "Eastern Shield" border.
Building a wall of drones
These border defense facilities will be equipped with the latest technology, early warning systems, and artillery pieces. Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Finland and Norway met in Riga in 2024 to begin drawing up plans to build a 3,000-kilometer-long "drone wall" to protect their borders.
This drone wall will have a sensor network consisting of radars and electronic warfare tools to identify and destroy Russian drones. The drone close-in reconnaissance system will be activated within seconds of detecting a target crossing the border.
This project will require close cooperation between the participating countries. Estonian companies are already designing drones that can both detect and neutralize threats in the complex terrain of lakes, swamps and forests that cover Russia's border with the Baltic states.
Cooperation between all European countries bordering Russia and an understanding of the terrain were crucial to preventing the failure of the Maginot Line, part of the defensive fortifications built by France along its border in the 1930s that failed to prevent the German invasion during World War II. The idea was to prevent the Germans from crossing the Ardennes Forest into Belgium.
While the Maginot Line fortifications forced the Germans to rethink their plan of attack, Belgium remained vulnerable. Today, European countries are aware that they cannot completely prevent a Russian attack, but they can possibly influence the nature of a Russian invasion.
The purpose of these barriers is both to deter and to try to control the location of any invasion.
If a ceasefire is declared between Ukraine and Russia, Baltic leaders fear that the Kremlin could redirect troops to their borders.
Countries bordering Russia are trying to be as prepared as possible for any further actions by Vladimir Putin.