March 26, Pozirk. Poland intends to construct 70-meter high observation towers with modern optical and electronic equipment along the shared border with Belarus, Gazeta Prawna reported citing Robert Bagan in charge of the Polish Border Guard.
The tower will help provide “a better overview and control of the strategic section,” extending about 10 kilometers deep into Poland and Belarus, he told MPs from the national defense and the administration and internal affairs committees.
Border guards will also need to acquire VTOL drones that can take off and land vertically and pave an asphalt road along the border to respond faster to border incidents, Bagan noted.
All these measures should improve border security because the existing border fence does not deter illegal third-country migrants crossing into Poland from Belarus, the official added.
The fence should be reinforced with additional bars because it takes just 20 seconds to bend five-meter fence elements with a car jack, he said.
In June 2023, Warsaw completed the construction of a 206-km long fence on the Polish-Belarusian border.
In mid-February, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that it should be upgraded as soon as possible.
Warsaw reportedly spent nearly $375 million to protect its shared border with Belarus during 2021-2023. The Polish defense ministry plans to allocate about $215 million in 2024.
Since the start of 2024, the European Union has recorded at least 3,552 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory from Belarus, with 2,775 attempts via Poland.
On March 21, illegal border crossing attempts by third-country nationals from Belarus into Poland spiked to 298, hitting a record high this year.
The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border started in spring 2021 after Alaksandar Łukašenka, angered by EU sanctions, had indicated that Minsk would not prevent migrants from Africa and Asia from using Belarus as a route to the EU. It escalated in November 2021, with hundreds of migrants storming the Polish border.
Pozirk’s analysis of daily stats indicated fluctuated tension at the Belarusian-EU border throughout 2023 with illegal border crossings picking up the pace in February.
The Baltic states and Poland accused Belarusian authorities of creating the trouble, while the latter blamed it on the West.
In August 2023, the interior ministers of Poland and the Baltic States warned that they would close the border with Belarus in response to a surge in illegal migration.
