Poland to host first Coalition of the Willing drills
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- Poland will host the first Coalition of the Willing military exercises this fall with British and French forces as framework nations, focused on testing command-and-control, logistics, and troop deployment for post-war Ukraine security guarantees.
- Poland has been designated the logistical and infrastructure hub for the Multinational Force Ukraine (MNF-U), with further coalition members expected to join the fall drills, according to the Defense Ministry.
- East Shield, Poland's 10 billion zloty ($2.6 billion) border defense initiative, will fortify roughly 800 km (497 miles) of border with Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and Belarus using drone detection radar, thermal imaging, and acoustic sensors.
- Germany's Bundeswehr deployed a military engineering unit to Poland rotationally in July 2026 to help build defensive infrastructure, with Poland seeking to make East Shield a NATO priority project.
- Deputy PM Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz confirmed reconnaissance is underway ahead of French troop support, with American soldier reconnaissance set to begin in September.
- Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland are among the Baltic and Nordic states Poland is consulting on border-strengthening cooperation.
Why it matters: Poland is taking on a dual role as NATO's eastern anchor — hosting the first Coalition of the Willing exercises this fall while building the 10 billion zloty East Shield defense line along 800 km of border with Kaliningrad and Belarus. The arrangement puts Warsaw at the center of allied coordination, with German engineering units already on the ground and US reconnaissance starting in September.
