Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Deputy Minister Maciej Wąsik, Major General Tomasz Praga, Commander-in-Chief of the Border Guard, Brigadier General Wioleta Gorzkowska, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Border Guard and Marek Chodkiewicz, Plenipotentiary for the Preparation and Implementation of State Border Security also attended the conference.

The Head of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration emphasised that the crisis on the border with Belarus had been planned.

From the perspective of the events in recent months, it seems apparent that the illegal migration scenario that began in the middle of last year on the Polish-Belarusian border was part of a plan to destabilise the situation in the entire region,

he said. 

Moreover, Minister Mariusz Kamiński recalled that Poland had complete control over the sovereignty of the state border with Belarus all the time. That was the effect of proper crisis management and the officers' and soldiers' excellent attitude.

Many Border Guard officers, Police officers and soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces guarded the security of our state border day and night. Some suffered physical injuries and were wounded. They did it for Poland, and Poland thanks them for that,

said the Minister of the Interior and Administration.

The Head of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration added that an electronic barrier is being built alongside the engineering wall. These include motion sensors, daylight and thermal cameras. Roads have also been constructed along the border so that the Border Guard can intervene quickly.

Poland protects its citizens

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki pointed out that the bloodiest war since the Second World War is occurring across our eastern border.

Today, we can see that this war had its first chord - Lukashenko's attack on the Polish border,

he stressed.

Lukashenko and his principal, Putin, decided to test the EU's eastern border. It involved attracting and encouraging migrants from the Middle East to come to Belarus, and then they were pushed into Polish territory,

the Head of the Government said.

The Prime Minister emphasised the involvement of officers of services subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior and Administration and soldiers in protecting the border. He recalled that if Poland had not put a barrier on illegal migration from the very beginning, today, it would have to focus on ensuring the security of that border. 

Internal and external security is our raison d'etre, and we will defend it,

the Head of the Government concluded.

The latest technical solutions

Deputy Minister Maciej Wąsik recalled that the Committee of the Council of Ministers for National Security and Defence Affairs announced the creation of the barrier last autumn. An act was ready a few weeks later, and it was quickly adopted by the Sejm and the Senate and signed by President Andrzej Duda. 

The Deputy Head of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration thanked those involved in preparing the concept and construction of the barrier.

I would like to thank Brigadier General Wioleta Gorzkowska, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Border Guard, and Marek Chodkiewicz, Plenipotentiary for the Preparation and Implementation of State Border Security. These persons prepared the concepts and the contracts that were signed and executed,

he said. 

The Secretary of State at the Ministry of the Interior and Administration also spoke about the details of the work carried out.

Contracts were signed on 4 January, and construction work started on 25 January. Polish companies produced huge steel panels guarding our border. They were made perfectly and on time,

he stressed. 

Deputy Minister Maciej Wąsik announced that the electronic barrier would be built by mid-September. He conveyed the information that the posts were being prepared for the installation of thermal imaging cameras, and there would also be motion sensors and various types of electronics to support the Border Guard. 

Before the conference, a briefing with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was held at the Border Guard post in Kuźnica. The Head of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, Mariusz Kamiński, Deputy Minister Maciej Wąsik, and Major General of the Border Guard, Tomasz Praga, also attended the meeting.

Securing the state border

The construction of a barrier on the Polish-Belarusian border results from entering the Act on the Construction of the State Border Security into force. The Act, which became effective on 4 November 2021, defined the rules for the implementation of the construction of the wall on the state border, which is the external border of the European Union at the same time. The solution created a legal basis for the rapid and efficient realization of this investment. 

A total of PLN 1.6 billion has been earmarked for the construction, of which around PLN 300 million will be allocated to electronic security, the so-called perimetry. The physical dam has been built over approximately 187 kilometres along the border with Belarus. The part of the border with the created protection has been divided into sections to reduce construction time as much as possible. 

The construction of the steel spans was entrusted to a three-company consortium - POLIMEX MOSTOSTAL SA, as the consortium leader, and the companies: MOSTOSTAL Siedlce Spółka z o.o., Sp.k. and Węglokoks SA. On the other hand, two contractors were responsible for the construction works - BUDIMEX SA (the section No. 1 with a length of 54.82 km and No. 2 - 50.73 km) and the consortium of UNIBEP SA (the consortium leader) and BUDREX Spółka z o.o. (the section No. 3 and No. 4 with a length of 36.73km and 43.97km, respectively).

The border protection measures 5.5 metres in height. It is made of 4.5 m high steel panels, topped with a coil of wire (concertina), so it is impossible to cross to the other side. Electronic border management methods are already installed (movement sensors along the entire border, cameras). The essential elements used to erect the barrier are the steel spans. Some 49,000 tonnes of steel were used to build the protection. 

The barrier is equipped with special animal crossings analogous to the construction of motorways. Neither the border rivers nor watercourses are obstructed. Other border protection systems have been used in these sections, allowing wild animals to cross the border freely.