Work on Belarus border barrier to start on Tuesday

The 5.5-metre-high barrier on Poland's border with Belarus will stretch over 186 kilometres and its construction will begin on Tuesday, the Polish Border Guard said on Monday.

Since last summer, thousands of migrants, most from the Middle East, have attempted to cross the Polish frontier from Belarus and enter the European Union. Migrants have also attempted to cross from Belarus into Lithuania and the Baltic countries.

Poland has blamed the crisis on the Belarusian Alexander Lukashenko regime, which it says is bringing the migrants to Belarus and encouraging them to attempt the border crossings in a move to destabilise the EU in retaliation for Brussels' earlier sanctions on Belarus.

A Border Guard spokesperson, Anna Michalska, said that the construction of the barrier will begin on Tuesday with the mounting of concrete pylons in the ground. She added that preparations on the construction site had been under way for several weeks.

The construction costs are estimated at over PLN 1.2 billion (EUR 260 million). The barrier is to be operational in June.