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Polish soldiers erect a barbed wire fence along the Polish-Belarusian border
Photo: Attila Husejnow / dpa
The Polish Ministry of the Interior has presented plans for a permanent fortification on the border with Belarus decided by Parliament.
Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminsky told journalists and on Twitter that the planned 180-kilometer system would not only be a physical barrier, but also be equipped with the most modern electronic devices.
It will consist of several lines of protection.
The most visible core of the fortification, which the government calls a "barrier", but which the opposition critically calls a "wall", is said to be 5.5 meters high. On five meter high steel piles, rolls of barbed wire are supposed to close off the remaining half a meter. In addition, the ministry plans to install motion sensors and day and night vision cameras, among other things. In addition, the border guard will be reinforced by a new group of 750 additional emergency services. According to the Minister of the Interior, the system should be ready by the end of the first half of 2022.
Formally, however, President Andrzej Duda still has to sign the law that will allow the construction of the border fortifications.
The background to this is the growing number of migrants from crisis areas who want to enter the EU illegally via Belarus.
For this reason, Poland had already started building a temporary fence along the border at the end of August.
The government in Warsaw has accused the Belarusian ruler, Alexander Lukashenko, of bringing refugees from crisis regions to the EU's external border in an organized manner.
Most recently, according to the Polish authorities, armed men in Belarusian uniforms briefly crossed the border.
After the appearance of the Polish security forces, however, they returned to Belarus.
jso / dpa
