Poland plans an e-fence on border with Russia

The digital transformation has reached the geographical dimension

The Polish Border Guard agency has announced that it is submitted for final approval plans to construct an electronic fence along the country’s border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. The move has been argued as necessary due to the increasing threat of Russia using illegal migration as a tool to destabilize the European Union through its physical borders.

The decision to raise a fence along the 199-km stretch between the two countries in the Baltic region was already announced in November of last year. However, the news now focuses on the decision to upgrade that initiative technologically with the introduction of sensors that capture movement and allow for real-time control of the infrastructure.

Could that be the future of physical borders?

The Polish newspaper Dziennik Polski, quoted by the Russian Interfax news agency, reported that the e-fence will be a system of sensors and cameras, thanks to which it will be possible to control the border, regardless of weather conditions and without the presence of border guards being necessary.

The tech upgrade would be in line with the overall tech and digital transitions occurring in all walks of life in recent times, so it seems only realistic that it would reach the field of border protection and security eventually. Construction is expected to begin in March.

"Officers [will] have an overview of the border at the headquarters of the Border Guard Branch. Alerts will be sent from detection systems and the algorithms of these alerts will be constructed in such a way that border guards can respond only to real attempts to cross the border by people, not by animals," explained Anna Michalska, the Polish Border Guard spokesperson, as quoted by Newsweek.

She added that the submitted project proposal was based on previous experiments with portable perimetry systems, which have worked well at sections of the border.

The contract for the construction of the facility with the Polish company TELBUD SA was signed in December. The electronic barrier will be activated along the entire border, with the exception of the Vistula Sand Spit, where similar facilities have been in place for several years.

The expected cost of the project is valued at 373 million zlotys, or about 77 million euros.