Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė expects a 100-kilometre-long patrol trail along the border with Belarus to be set up this year.
“The first stage has started, and 10 million euros have been earmarked for it,” Bilotaitė told reporters on Monday. “We expect to complete these works by the end of this year.”
The second phase, worth 40 million euros, will involve installing another 250 kilometres, according to the minister.
“We will do our best to maximise that infrastructure,” she said.
The patrol trail will be up to 3.5 meters wide and will be accessible by foot, off-road vehicles, quad bikes, and other special equipment.
The patrol trail is already in place in some places, but it has to be upgraded, according to Bilotaitė.
Rustamas Liubajevas, commander of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service (VSAT), told reporters that the first phase of the project focuses on places which are badly in need of repair.
“The patrol trail was installed back in 2002-2003, but the infrastructure has since worn out, and the path was damaged during the installation of the physical barrier and the surveillance systems,” he said.
The installation of the border patrol trail is an ongoing project to beef up the protection of the EU’s external borders. The project is estimated to cost 10 million euros, with 75 percent of the funding coming from the EU and the remaining 25 percent from the national budget.
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