The main purpose of the cameras is to prevent illegal immigration into the Schengen area, says Chief of Police in Eastern Finnmark, Håkon Skulstad in a press release. Even though the situation on the Norwegain-Russian border is very quiet, the Schengen agreement implies certain minimum requirements for surveillance.
Border guard personnel have recently put up several cameras along the border in areas were illegal crossings are most likely to take place. The equipment is partly financed by Schengen.
The cameras are not meant for keeping the legal traffic along the border under surveillance, Skulstad underlines. But for those who wander along the border, the new cameras mean increased risk of being detected if you do cross the border line.
- I urge everybody to learn the rules of conduct at the border before taking a trip along the line, Skulstad says.
Some weeks ago Norwegian citizens on two different occasions crossed the border line while fishing in the Pasvik river. This was detected by the Schengen cameras and the people involved were fined.
In course of the first seven months of 2009 there were ten violations of the Norwegian-Russian border, all from the Norwegian side. From the Russian side there were no violations in the same period, as BarentsObserver reported.
