Poland intends not only to dig a canal that divides the Baltic Spit into two, but also to build an artificial island in the Kaliningrad (Vistula) Bay. Such information is contained in the messages of Polish media referring to the materials of the Maritime Administration in Gdynia, as well as the parameters of the tender, previously published on the government portal.
According to preliminary data, an island 2-3 m above sea level will have an elliptical shape. As a result of the bulk work, the area of Poland will increase by 181 hectares - a new section of land will be visible even from space. However, according to Polish newspapers, the island will not be used for tourist purposes.
Applications for the first phase of work are accepted until March 7. Also in the first half of the year, a competition will be announced for the second part of the project - dredging in the Kaliningrad Bay and work on the Elblag river that flows into it.
Recall that the Baltic Spit (in Poland it is called the Vistula Spit. - RT ) separates the Gdansk Bay from the Kaliningrad Bay, part of the coastline of which belongs to Poland. In particular, we are talking about the coastal city of Elblгеg and its seaport. Now in order to get there, the courts have to pass through the strait, located in the Russian part of the spit, near Baltiysk. The length of the spit is 65 km, of which 35 km belong to the territory of the Russian Federation.
- Plan for the construction of a canal and an artificial island in the Kaliningrad Bay
- © Materials of the Maritime Bureau in Gdynia
The decision to dig an artificial channel through the Baltic Spit was made by the ruling party “Law and Justice” in May 2016. The cost of the project is estimated at about 880 million zlotys (about $ 235 million). Last summer, the Polish government announced that construction funds were already budgeted. The length of the channel will be 1.3 km, depth - 5 m. It is assumed that after the project implementation, ships of the sea can reach the port of Elblгg, whose hull can reach 100 m in length, 20 m in width, and the draft - 4 m.
Rumors about the plans of Warsaw to build a second channel through the Baltic Spit circulated in the press as early as 2004. Even then, it is very concerned about environmentalists.
"Irreversible changes in the biocenosis"
According to the Helsinki Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea (HELCOM), Warsaw is obliged to inform the Russian side of the possible consequences for the Baltic Sea ecosystem that its project may entail. However, the Polish side has still not responded to written requests that were sent by Russian environmentalists. The head of the Kaliningrad region Anton Alikhanov told this to journalists earlier.
In addition, on January 13, Alikhanov said that "they (Poland . - RT ) still need to coordinate with the European Commission the permission to build this channel, it is necessary to coordinate, by the way, with Russia too."
According to Article 26 of the convention, disputes between the parties to the document can be resolved through the mediation of a third party or a competent international organization. If disagreements cannot be resolved in this manner, the dispute may be submitted to a specially established arbitration court, a permanent arbitration court or the International Court of Justice.
However, according to the director of the All-Russian Institute of Nature, Honored Ecologist of Russia Andrei Peshkov, specialists in this case do not need a special trial to prove the illegality of Poland’s plans. As the expert explained, in international law there is a universal rule, according to which all disputes should be settled by consensus. That is, if at least one of the parties to the treaty is opposed, then the question is postponed until a compromise solution is found.
“I think that in this case judicial review will not be required, since without reaching a consensus, the project will automatically be considered illegal from the point of view of international law,” Peshkov stressed in an interview with RT.
According to him, any gross intervention, as a rule, leads to the destruction of nature monuments, and before constructing artificial structures in the marine environment, an assessment of the environmental impact should be carried out according to all applicable international standards.
“Most likely, the Polish authorities will not conduct such an assessment in a proper manner and are unlikely to coordinate this construction with other HELCOM members. It is unlikely that Poland’s neighbors would agree with such a formulation of the question, when the Polish side will at its discretion alter the hydrological regime in the Baltic Sea, creating new sea objects. Without a doubt, this will lead to irreversible changes in the biocenosis, ”Peshkov said in an interview with RT.
Demonstration action
The Polish side claims the economic prerequisites for the construction of the canal, but, according to analysts, the true motives lie in the political plane.
The statements of Polish statesmen only confirm this version. As the leader of the ruling party, Yaroslav Kaczynski, said earlier in an interview with Polskoy Radio, the construction of the canal through the Baltic Spit will demonstrate that “the times when Russians dictated to us that we can, and we cannot, on our territory, have passed.”
The government decree on the construction of a waterway through the Vistula Spit, promulgated in May 2016, explicitly stated that the project was aimed not only at the economic development of Elblгаg and other northeastern territories of Poland, but also at improving safety by introducing free navigation for Polish naval ships . Now for these purposes, the Polish side is using the strait located in the Russian Baltiisk region.
As emphasized in the document, as a result, these investments will ensure the security of the external borders of the European Union and the Vistula Lagoon.
“This is especially important in the context of the existing geopolitical threats,” the resolution said.
The fact that security considerations pushed Warsaw to the construction of the canal was previously stated by the Polish Minister of Maritime Economy and Water Transport, Marek Hrubarchik. This was confirmed in the Polish Ministry of Defense.
It should be noted that it is in Elbl дисg that the headquarters of the NATO North-East multinational division is deployed, parts of which are located in Poland and the Baltic countries. Also here is the headquarters of the ground division of the Polish army.
- Port Elblag
- © Mariusz0005
Warsaw has recently been actively building up its armed forces and defense expenditures, arguing this policy by the “Russian threat”. New military formations and infrastructure are created mainly in the eastern regions of the country, in the direction of the Kaliningrad region and Belarus. In November last year, the head of the Polish Defense Ministry, Mariusz Blašack, approved the schedule for the formation of a new 18th “Iron Division”, which should be fully prepared for participation in possible hostilities by 2026.
At the same time, Warsaw is counting on attracting US Army units to its territory. Earlier, the Polish authorities turned to Washington with a proposal to place a military base in Poland, declaring its readiness to compensate American partners for expenses. However, the White House reacted with restraint to this initiative.
"Increase attractiveness"
According to Sergey Yermakov, head of the regional security sector at the RISS Center for Military-Political Studies, one of the motives that guides Warsaw in preparing to dig a canal through the Baltic Spit may be a desire to increase the attractiveness of Poland in the eyes of the American command.
“Poland expects to become a very important partner for the United States. And if the Polish side gets more freedom of maneuvers at sea, then its attractiveness in strategic terms for Washington may also increase. All this is being done under rhetorical talk about the “Russian military threat,” Yermakov explained in an interview with RT.
The expert added that the idea of building a canal lies in line with the general tactics of PiS conservatives.
“It’s no secret that the Polish government’s infrastructural, economic and political ambitions are going wild, Warsaw wants to simultaneously become a gas hub in peak for Nord Stream, a NATO base country in Europe, etc. The construction of the channel is only part of a whole series of ambitious designs, ”reminds Yermakov.
- NATO exercises in Poland
- Reuters
- © Cezary Aszkielowicz / Agencja Gazeta
If the former Polish authorities put up with the need to get permission to pass their ships through a canal in the area of Baltiysk, where the large Russian naval base is located, the current Polish government does not like this procedure.
However, if we proceed from the preliminary data, the depth of the channel will not be enough for the passage of large naval ships, believes Yermakov. But, in his opinion, it is premature to draw conclusions about the final characteristics of the artificial channel.
“When in Warsaw they are openly talking about the military-political motives of the construction, it cannot be excluded that not only the channel itself, but also the bulk of the island, which should appear in the Kaliningrad Bay, will also be used by the Polish Ministry of Defense,” the expert concluded.