Electronic elements of Poland’s anti-migrant border wall with Belarus switched on

Poland has activated the first section of the electronic barrier, equipped with cameras and motion detectors, on its border with Belarus, built in response to a migration crisis in which tens of thousands of people – mostly from the Middle East, Asia and Africa – attempted to cross into Poland from Belarus.

A physical border wall was completed in the summer, and on Friday the electronic elements of the barrier were switched on, announced interior minister Mariusz Kamiński. The remaining sections will be completed by the end of the year.

At a length of 206 kilometres, it will be the longest electronic barrier monitored from a single control centre in the world, says Kamiński. The cost of the project is around 343 million zloty (€73 million), according to his ministry. The physical barrier, on the other hand, was built over a length of 187 km.

The wall and electronic barrier are “extremely important instruments to effectively counteract politically motivated illegal migration aimed at destabilising the situation in the region”, said Kamiński.

“A year ago, dramatic events took place right here on this section of the border with Belarus: thousands of illegal migrants, aggression, stone-throwing, injured border guards and police officers,” he continued. “Scenes we would have liked to avoid, but which were orchestrated by the Belarusian regime.”

“In fact, it was an action preparing for war in Ukraine. A destabilising action in this part of Europe,” said Kamiński.

From the beginning of the mass attempts to cross into Poland from Belarus in the summer of 2021, the Polish government described the actions as part of a “hybrid war” by Russia and Belarus against the West.

Since work began on building the border wall at the start of this year, the number of attempted crossings – which reached a peak of 17,500 in October 2021 – slowed to a trickle. However, Poland’s human rights commissioner warned earlier this year that the humanitarian crisis at the border, while diminished, was continuing.

During the briefing inaugurating the electronic barrier on the Belarusian border, Kamiński also said that a contractor for the construction of a border fence with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad had been selected last week.

“The team gave a positive opinion on the proposal to select the Telbud SA company from Poznań, which will build a perimeter barrier on the border with the Kaliningrad region. The amount of the investment is more than 350 million zloty for 200 km of the border,” said deputy interior minister Maciej Wąsik.

Poland has moved to strengthen its border with Kaliningrad amid fears that Russia could seek to orchestrate crossings by migrants and asylum seekers in a similar manner to the actions of Belarus last year.

Main image credit: MSWiA (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.