Poland increases security and surveillance on its border with Russia
Poland has started the construction of an electronic barrier to better control the situation along the border with Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian Federation.
Mariusz Kamiński, Minister of Interior and Administration, announced this at a press conference on Tuesday, the European Pravda reports.
Kaliningrad Oblast is a semi-exclave on the Baltic Sea, bordering Poland to the south and Lithuania to the north and east.
An electronic barrier — a system of cameras and motion sensors — will be installed on 199 kilometers of the border. It will cover the entire land border with Russia, except the section of the Vistula Spit, where electronic devices have guarded the border for several years.
More than 373 million zlotys (over $83 million) have been earmarked for constructing the electronic barrier, including 42 million zlotys (over $9 million) for strengthening the relief at certain border sections.
"The construction of an electronic barrier on the Polish-Russian border has begun. The work will be completed this fall. We will fully monitor what is happening on the border with Russia," the minister said.
The area of the protective barrier will be divided into twelve functional sections with about 2,000 video surveillance poles, 3,000 video cameras, and 700 km of power, transmission, and signal cables installed.
As Kamiński assured, the barrier on the border with Russia will be "incredibly modern" — the same as on the border with Belarus.
"Our eastern border will be perfectly prepared for any illegal actions related to crises with our eastern neighbors. I am convinced it will be the best-protected border in the European Union," the minister said.
The spokeswoman of the Border Guard Service, Lieutenant Anna Michalska, reported that construction work has begun in the area of border posts in Bezledy and Sempopol. The first works on the border lane consist of laying the pillars' foundations for surveillance cameras and power and transmission cables.
The electronic barrier on the border with Russia is being built based on the Law on the Construction of State Border Protection Facilities. This Law entered into force on November 4, 2021. It was adopted in connection with migratory pressure on the Polish-Belarusian border.
Since the beginning of November last year, the Polish army has installed a temporary barbed wire barrier on the Polish-Russian border.
