Poland plans to commission electronic barrier on border with Russia by end of Sept

MINSK. Aug 10 (Interfax) - Poland has begun testing the so-called electronic barrier on its border with Russia, Spokesperson for the Polish Border Guard Anna Michalska told the PAP news agency on Thursday.

"The contractor is testing the first of the twelve sections of the electronic fence on the border with Russia, [and] is planning to transfer it to the border guard service for acceptance in the coming days," Michalska said.

"All the containers binding together the protection systems have been installed on the border," she said, adding that the electronic barrier is due to be fully commissioned before the end of September.

"The following sections will be commissioned one by one in the coming weeks," she said. "The construction of the Observation Center at the headquarters of the Warmia and Mazury Border Guard branch in the city of Ketrzyn, which will receive signals from cameras and sensors, is almost complete," Michalska said.

While the facility was being developed, "it was calm on the border, without any incidents, [and] contrary to the situation when a fence was also being put up on the border with Belarus, there have not been any instances of equipment being destroyed," Michalska said.

In April this year, Poland started constructing an electronic fence on its border with Russia's Kaliningrad region. A system of cameras and sensors will operate along a section of the country's land border approximately 200 km in length.