EU Says Lithuania Can Use Funds For Russian Border Surveillance
Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published January 17, 2017 | 09:20 PM
BRUSSELS, , (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Jan, 2017 ) - Lithuania can use EU funds to install surveillance systems on its border with Russia's militarised Kaliningrad exclave but not to build a fence, the EU said on Tuesday.
Vilnius has said it wants to build a fence on the border with Kaliningrad amid concern from fellow Baltic states over the Russian military build-up. The so-called exclave of Kaliningrad is sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, both EU and NATO members.
"The Commission indeed does not finance the construction of fences or barriers at the external borders," said Tove Ernst, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, the executive of the 28-nation bloc.
"What we do fund is border management, including through stepping up surveillance and border control equipment," Ernst told AFP. "The national programme for Lithuania does for example include the upgrading of border surveillance systems at the external borders," Ernst told reporters earlier, citing thermal cameras and sensor alarm systems.
Construction of the 130-kilometre (80-mile) fence will start this spring and will be finished by the end of the year, Lithuania's Interior Minister Eimutis Misiunas told AFP on Monday.
"The reasons are both economic to prevent smuggling and geopolitical to strengthen the EU's external border," he said.
The two-metre (six-foot) high fence will cost around 30 million Euros ($32 million). "It would not stop tanks but it will be difficult to climb over," Misiunas said. The stretch of border is currently a popular route used by Kaliningrad-based cigarette smugglers to ferry contraband into Lithuania.
Misiunas said the fence could prevent cross-border "provocations", recalling a 2014 incident in which Estonia accused Russia of abducting an intelligence officer at gunpoint on the border. NATO is deploying troops in the Baltic states and Poland to deter Russia from making more land grabs following its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
The Kremlin denies any territorial ambitions and insists NATO is trying to encircle Russia. Moscow's deployment of nuclear-capable Iskander missiles into Kaliningrad last year and frequent military drills in the Baltic region have rattled neighbouring Poland and Lithuania.
Over the next few months, the United States is due to also deploy part of an armoured brigade to Lithuania and other Baltic NATO states on a rotational basis.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
Currency Rate In Pakistan - Dollar, Euro, Pound, Riyal Rates On 29 March 2024
Today Gold Rate in Pakistan 29 March 2024
Journalists call for global action to end Gaza’s humanitarian crisis
CM for generating opportunities to bring direct int'l investment
Pakistan retains position in FTSE secondary emerging market
High Commissioner of Malaysia hosts Iftar dinner reception
NEPRA announces 2nd quarterly adjustment in power bills with Rs 1.68 cut per uni ..
Hoopo Inc. Collaborates with SAU to Install Solar-Powered RO Plant
04 killed in Spain as Storm Nelson looms
Russian military jet crashes into sea off Crimea: Governor
Rain-windstorm/thunderstorm likely at various parts of country
Implementation of Sindh Agriculture Workers Act-2019 demanded
More Stories From World
-
Football: Spanish La Liga table
6 minutes ago -
World court orders Israel to unblock Gaza food aid, as famine lurks
6 minutes ago -
Football: English Premier League table
6 minutes ago -
Greek govt defeats censure motion over train tragedy
26 minutes ago -
Baltimore bridge, port recovery will be 'very long road'
56 minutes ago -
Ecuador prison riot leaves three dead, six injured
56 minutes ago
-
In Canada's Quebec, residents miffed over mining boom
56 minutes ago -
Hope yet for future of battered and bruised Commonwealth Games
56 minutes ago -
S. Korea slams 'irresponsible' Russian veto ending UN N. Korea sanctions monitoring
56 minutes ago -
Leaders Madrid face Athletic in final run towards Liga title
56 minutes ago -
Cleanup begins in 'very long road' to recovery for Baltimore bridge, port
56 minutes ago -
Portugal unveils new government after hung polls
1 hour ago