Finnish gov't allocates 139 mln euros for building security fence

HELSINKI, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Finnish government has proposed 139 million euros (452 million U.S. dollars) in funding for the first phase of building a fence on Finland's eastern border, the Finnish Border Guard announced on Friday.

The Finnish Border Guard said that the first section of the fence will be approximately 70 km long, and construction will take place in 2023-2024.

At the end of October, the Finnish government agreed on funding of six million euros for a pilot section of the fence.

The pilot will test the implementation of the project by building a barrier fence of approximately three kilometers on both sides of the Pelkola border crossing point in Imatra, in Eastern Finland, said the head of the Technical Division of the Border Guard Headquarters Brigadier General Jari Tolppanen.

The construction of the test fence will start in March 2023, and to be completed in the summer.

At a press conference on Friday, Tolppanen revealed that the entire fence will measure 200 km, most of which will be in Southeast Finland. The total cost will be 380 million euros.

The reason for the construction of the fence is a change in the security environment, Tolpannen said.

"The barrier fence is a larger whole which consists of a fence, its adjacent road, as well as technical surveillance. The fence will be three meters high, and any immediate penetration, crossing, or under-passing of the fence will be prevented," said Ismo Kurki, project manager at the Technical Division of the Border Guard Headquarters. (1 euro = 1.03 U.S. dollar)