Belarus: Poland begins construction of controversial border fort

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A Polish soldier monitors the EU's external border with Belarus near Usnarz Gorny

Photo: Doris Heimann / dpa

Construction of a controversial fortified border complex has begun on the Polish-Belarusian border.

The 5.5 meter high system will be set up "along the border road," said the spokeswoman for the Polish border guard, Anna Michalska, of the PAP news agency.

The government in Warsaw decided on the 353 million euro project last year in response to the sharp increase in migrant crossings.

The 186-kilometer border facility should be completed by June.

The project has been criticized both by human rights activists, who fear that European asylum law will be undermined, and by environmentalists.

Most of the Polish-Belarusian border area is forested.

"Our goal is to keep the damage as small as possible," Michalska said.

Only as many trees are felled as are absolutely necessary.

Poland had accused Belarus of a "hybrid" attack

A sharp increase in the number of refugees at the borders between Belarus and the EU states of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia led to a crisis in the autumn.

The EU accused the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko of having smuggled the migrants, who mainly came from the Middle East, to the border in order to take revenge on the sanctions decided by Brussels.

In connection with the crisis, Poland had spoken of a "hybrid" attack by Belarus and its ally Russia.

Minsk rejected the allegations and accused Poland of inhuman treatment of the migrants.

At the height of the crisis, Poland had moved thousands of soldiers and police officers to the border area and erected a barbed wire fence.

Media and human rights groups were banned from entering the border area in a highly controversial decision.

A law that enables the authorities to force migrants who have already crossed the border back into Belarus also caused sharp criticism.

The number of border crossings has been falling sharply for a few weeks.

However, individual migrants continue to try to reach the EU via the increasingly dangerous route.

On Tuesday, Poland's border guard reported 17 border crossings within 24 hours.

bam/AFP