Poland places observation towers by Russian border
PR dla Zagranicy
John Beauchamp
06.04.2015 09:54
Poland’s 200-kilometre land border with the Russian Kaliningrad exclave is to be bolstered with the construction of six observation towers.
Border guards in the Warmia-Masuria region in north Poland. Photo: Emilia Maziarz-Kisielewska/Warmia-Masuria Border Guard
The towers – which range in height between 35 and 50 metres – are to aid border guards in monitoring the border 24 hours a day, with images streamed to local border control posts.
“We are currently in the test phase of the technical installations on the towers,” Mirosława Aleksandrowicz from the Warmia-Masurian Border Guard told the PAP news agency, adding that “we plan to be fully operational by June this year”.
The total cost of the investment is over PLN 14 million, with 75 percent of the cash coming from the EU’s External Borders Fund.
Poland’s border with Russia is also the external border of the European Union, and has four road crossings into the Kaliningrad exclave, in Gronowo, Grzechotki, Bezledy and Gołdap.
Last year, 3.2 million Poles and 3.3 million Russians passed through the border crossings, up from 2.9 million Poles and 3.2 million Russians passing through in 2013, PAP reports. (jb)