Finnish border guards released a photo of the first section of the fence on the border with Russia and were criticized and ridiculed by local residents, Ilta-Sanomat reports.
The image caused a lot of surprise on Twitter. Users have noted that the fence looks very different from the photos Border Guards released last fall. The resulting “pilot” version of the Finns was called “kindergarten fence for horses” and “garden fence”.
Images released by border guards show a green metal fence reminiscent of many other fences that exist in Finland, which can be used, for example, to separate railway tracks from sidewalks or even schools or parks, the newspaper writes.
According to the border guards, there will be a barbed wire fence above the unfinished “pilot fence”. The border service wants to build around 200 kilometers of fences. Construction will take 3-4 years.
“Once completed, the Eastern Border Barrier will detect and slow down unauthorized border crossings, control traffic and prevent immediate passage. In a situation of large-scale illegal immigration, a fence is necessary. Even in a basic situation, it helps our work,” the border service wrote on Twitter.
Professor Jussi P. Laine of the University of Eastern Finland called the fence an unreasonable project that looks like a complete joke and something like a playground fence. He wonders why this project costs 380 million dollars. euros.
One of the users of the social network said that he had already found a way to break through the “pilot fence”.
“I, a 42 year old man, will climb that fence in 20 seconds and in 10 seconds if I take my shoes off and put my toes in those holes,” he wrote.
The border service replied that the fence itself is not a solution to a threat, but is part of the whole border control.
“The fence is an object formed by a fence, a road beside it and a treeless opening, as well as a technical control system, which will be an important tool for border control,” the border guards replied.
In addition, the fence shown in the photo has not yet been completed, and as the work progresses, new photos will appear on social networks, the border guard service said.
“We have the same ‘border fence’ here at the dog park,” one Twitter user wrote.
Construction of the border fence with Russia began in February. The Finnish government has allocated six million euros for the pilot fence site.
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