Poland today inaugurated a canal that will allow ships to reach the port of Elblag from the Baltic Sea without passing through Russian territorial waters.
Until now, to reach the high seas, ships leaving Elblag had to cross a peninsula belonging partly to Poland and partly to Russia, forcing Warsaw to ask Moscow for permission to cross.
“It was about opening this path, so as not to have to ask permission from a country that is not a friend,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said at the channel’s opening ceremony, recalling the context of the Russian invasion of the neighboring country. Ukraine.
Poland, a member of the European Union and NATO, strongly supports kyiv.
Accessible for now only to small boats, the waterway opened by this canal should, when completed, allow access to Elblag for boats up to 100 meters long, 20 meters wide, according to the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure.
The dredging and development of various transport infrastructures should be completed by September 2023 and the total cost of the project is estimated at around 2 billion zlotys (420 million euros).
The opening marked 83 years since the Soviet invasion of Poland during World War II and symbolically demonstrates the end of Moscow’s word on the economy and development of a region bordering the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
A few thousand people with white and red flags, the national colors, gathered in the rain to watch the technical boat Zodiak II pass through the gates and open the canal.
The project has sparked controversy between supporters of the new access road to the Baltic and environmentalists who have spoken of risks to the fauna and flora that could be affected by changes in the salinity of the delta’s waters.
The government says this waterway gives Poland full sovereignty in the northeastern region, which is in need of investment and economic development.
Source: TSF
