Poland starts building wire fence on border with russia’s Kaliningrad

Poland announced the start of construction of a barbed wire fence on the border with russia's Kaliningrad oblast.

This is reported in the statement of the Minister of Defense of Poland, Mariusz Blaszczak.

"The work of sappers and soldiers of the Polish Army on the construction of a temporary barrier on the Polish-russian border is starting today," Blaszczak announced.

Blaszczak said the Kaliningrad fence would be similar to the one that Poland set up along the border with Belarus last year. The head of the ministry emphasized that the wall would consist of three rows of barbed wire used by the army worldwide. He added that there would be three layers.

The construction starts amid concerns that the enclave might become a line for illegal migration. The enclave, where russia has a significant military presence, lies on the Baltic coast between Poland and Lithuania and is separated from Belarus by a border corridor. Online business magazine Russia Briefing reported last month that Kaliningrad is seeking to attract airlines from the Gulf and Asia under a new open skies policy.

The minister cited security concerns with tensions rising due to the war in Ukraine and referred to a crisis triggered last autumn when thousands of African and Middle Eastern migrants tried to cross the Belarus border into Poland, some of whom died.

However, a Poland's Border Guard spokesperson said no illegal entries from Kaliningrad into Poland took place in October.

"The Polish-Russian border is stable and calm. There has been no illegal border crossing," Anna Michalska said.

"We are not only there in times of peace. We are prepared for various crises. After what happened on the Polish-Belarusian border, we are even more prepared for everything, for all of the darkest scenarios," she added.

On August 4, it became known that the government of the Republic of Poland plans to install an electric fence on the border with the Kaliningrad region this year.

In October, Poland completed the construction of a barrier on its border with Belarus making illegal entry to the country impossible via that route.

Stanislaw Zaryn, director of the National Security Department, announced the development in a Saturday tweet, adding: "The Polish border is the best defended in Europe today."

Construction of the barrier came in response to a migration crisis in the spring of 2021. Warsaw stated that Minsk's Aleksandr Lukashenko regime deliberately enticed migrants to destabilize Poland and the EU and retaliate for sanctions imposed by Brussels.

The European Union has also accused Belarus of facilitating illegal immigration into the bloc in retaliation for sanctions imposed against the regime over the August 2020 presidential election, considered fraudulent by the West.

Minsk rejects the accusation.