In recent years, the eastern border of the European Union has returned to the center of the continent’s strategic dynamics. Projects such as East Shield and the Baltic Defence Line reflect a strengthening of infrastructure and military presence across Poland and the Baltic States, in response to the shifting geopolitical landscape shaped by the war in Ukraine. These programs aim to consolidate the defensive capacity of Europe’s borders through advanced infrastructure and technological systems, forming part of a broader European rearmament policy, with significant investments in the defense industry and in the maintenance of military systems.
Within this framework, adolescents and young people play a central role in the political and strategic decisions that shape the defense of these territories. They are called upon to sustain this strategy, facing a climate of growing fear and uncertainty.
We are not youth any longer, as young soldiers declare in Erich Maria Remarque’s novel All Quiet on the Western Front, where the experience of war abruptly interrupts adolescence, emerges from a journey along the eastern European border, between Poland and the Baltic States, and focuses on the young generations who inhabit these territories. It offers a view of the landscapes and communities affected by rearmament policies, capturing the everyday reality of a generation whose growth is intertwined with border security and defense strategies, amidst desires, choices, and future expectations.
