“I have decided to take measures that will increase security on the border with the Kaliningrad Oblast. We will begin the construction of a temporary barrier that will strengthen the protection of the border”, announced Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defence Mariusz Błaszczak on 2 November. Work on the construction of the wall is expected to begin later today.

The defence minister told a press conference that the issue of sealing the border with Russia had been taken up during a meeting of the security and defence affairs committee.

“It is a matter of coordination in the work of the various ministries responsible for the security of the Republic of Poland. The result of this work is a decision that provides for the start of construction of a temporary barrier on the border with the Kaliningrad region”, said Deputy Prime Minister Blaszczak.

The wall will consist of three rows of fencing. In parallel, work will be carried out to establish the perimeter. “We have taken measures to ensure that the fence is built as soon as possible. As many soldiers will be involved as needed”, he added.

The structure will be 2.5 metres high and 3 metres wide. An additional fence will also be erected on the Polish side to protect the animals.

According to the head of the defence ministry, the work on the fence will continue quickly, because Polish engineers have the experience that they gained a year ago building a barrier on the border with Belarus.

“The wall protected our country from a flood of migrants. In my opinion, it was a plan written in the Kremlin”, said Mariusz Błaszczak, adding that therefore the Polish authorities came to the conclusion that such a barrier should also be built on the border with the Kaliningrad region.

It should be recalled that the barrier on the Polish-Belarusian border was built over a length of about 187 kilometres. It is 5 and a half metres high. The protection part is made of steel panels 4 and a half metres high, topped with a coil of concertina.

Adrian Andrzejewski