(AFP) Poland on Monday announced plans for a barbed-wire fence along its border with Belarus following an influx of migrants which countries in the region called a “hybrid attack” on the EU.
Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said the fence would be 2.5 metres (8.2 feet) high and would resemble the one built by Hungary along its border with Serbia.
“The work will begin next week,” Blaszczak said, adding that it would be built along 130 kilometres of the border — or around a third of the total distance.
Hungary built a fence along the Serbian border in 2015 and 2016 as Europe grappled with a large increase in migration from Syria.
Blaszczak also said the contingent of Polish soldiers currently deployed to help border guards would be doubled to 2,000.
