Poland to build razor-wire fence on border with Russia’s Kaliningrad

The Polish government announced on Wednesday it will build a razor-wire fence on its border with Russia's Kaliningrad, amid concerns the enclave could be used for illegal migration.

The unique small section of Russia is adrift from the mainland and bordered by Poland, Lithuania and the Baltic Sea which makes it a key strategic point for the Kremlin but of concern to Polish defence minister Mariusz Blaszczak as the Ukraine war rages on.

Construction of the temporary 2.5-metre (8ft) high and three-metre deep barrier will start immediately, Mr Blaszczak told a news conference.

With tensions rising due to the war, he cited security concerns and referred 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.

The European Union at the time accused Belarus - a close ally of Russia - of flying the migrants in as part of a "hybrid" warfare campaign to destabilise Europe. Minsk denied wrongdoing.

Mr Blaszczak said the 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 chief executive of the Khrabrovo airport in Kaliningrad, Alexander Korytnyi, told Russia's Interfax news agency on October 3 that his airport would seek to "attract airlines from countries in the Persian Gulf and Asia," including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Mr Blaszczak described the airport's plans as "disturbing”.

Soldiers began laying the razor wire in the Polish village of Wisztyniec, a local Border Guard spokeswoman, Miroslawa Aleksandrowicz, told Polish state news agency PAP.

Wisztyniec is a village where the borders of Poland, Russia and Lithuania meet. Lithuania, like Poland, is a member of both Nato and the European Union.

"The barrier will be built is several places as the same time," Ms Aleksandrowicz said.

There were no detected attempts to cross into Poland illegally from Kaliningrad in October, she added.

To date, there has been no barrier along the border, but only frequent patrols by border guards, another Border Guard spokesperson, Konrad Szwed, said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined on Wednesday to comment on the border barrier, describing it as "a Polish matter."