Poland orders construction of electric fence along Russia’s Kaliningrad border

A 2.5-metre (8ft) high and 3-metre deep barrier will run along the 210-kilometre (130-mile) border

A Lithuanian border fence and marker face a Russian border marker at the Russian semi-exclave of Kaliningrad (Getty Images)

Poland’s defence minister has ordered the immediate construction of a temporary barrier along the border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad in order that the country “feels safe”.

Mariusz Blaszczak said he had authorised the construction of a wall along the 210km (130-mile) border. A spokesperson for the border guard agency, Konrad Szwed, told the Associated Press that the barrier would consist of an electric fence.

Warsaw suspects that Russia plans to use the border to facilitate the crossing of migrants. Amid current simmering tensions over the war in Ukraine, Mr Blaszczak referred to a crisis triggered last autumn when thousands of African and Middle Eastern migrants tried to cross the Belarus border into Poland, some of whom died on the journey.

The EU at the time accused Russia-allied Belarus of flying the migrants in as part of a “hybrid” warfare campaign to destabilise Europe. Minsk denied wrongdoing.

Kaliningrad province borders Poland to the West and Lithuania to the east.

However, a second spokesperson for Poland’s Border Guard said no illegal entries from Kaliningrad into Poland took place in October.

“The Polish-Russian border is stable and calm. There has been no illegal crossing of the border,” Anna Michalska said.

“We are not only there in times of peace. We are prepared for various crisis situations and after what happened on the Polish-Belarusian border we are even more prepared for everything, for all of the darkest scenarios,” she added.

Blaszczak said the 2.5m (8ft) high and 3m deep barrier Kaliningrad barrier would be similar to the one that Poland set up along the border with Belarus last year.

Online business magazine Russia Briefing reported last month that Kaliningrad is seeking to attract airlines from the Gulf and Asia under a new open skies policy.

The enclave, where Russia has a significant military presence, lies on the Baltic coast between Poland and Lithuania and is separated from Belarus by a border corridor.