Fencing Off Europe: Border Fortifications as Symptomatic Responses to Hybrid Insecurities in Poland and Finland

Despite post-Cold War hopes for openness, twenty-first century Europe has witnessed a resurgence of border fortifications, driven by anxieties about migration, security threats, and geopolitical tension. This article examines the logic behind newly constructed border fences in Poland and Finland as symptomatic responses to this new era of insecurity and hybrid threats. We argue that border fences are not merely physical structures but symbolic and symptomatic tools that materialize national fears and legitimise exclusionary policies. By pointing to similarities and connections between the two case studies, we demonstrate that a discursive landscape framed by notions of “hybrid attacks” and “instrumentalised migration” creates a pervasive sense of threat and insecurity that legitimizes the construction of border fences to ensure security and control. However, border barriers not only fail to address the underlying causes of insecurity and displacement but also build a false sense of security that distracts from addressing the real drivers of insecurity.