Poland imposes further border restriction in Belarus spat

An aerial view shows the border wall at the Polish-Belarusian border near Tolcze village, in Sokolka County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland on June 8, 2022. AFP FILE PHOTO

WARSAW — Poland on Monday said it would temporarily close its last operational cargo border crossing with Belarus to Belarusian goods drivers after Minsk imposed restrictions on Poland’s carriers.

The bilateral spat has been building up for days and has left hundreds of trucks stuck in a queue stretching more than 40 kilometers (25 miles) at the Koroszczyn border checkpoint.

“The suspension of traffic will continue… until Belarusian authorities lift the restrictions against Polish carriers,” Poland’s interior ministry said in a statement.

The row over cargo drivers began on February 10, when Poland closed another Belarus-Polish cargo border crossing — the Bobrowniki checkpoint — for reasons of “state security”.

That decision came just after a Belarusian court sentenced Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut to eight years in prison over his critical reporting on the Minsk regime.

At loggerheads with the West, Moscow-allied Minsk often singles out Warsaw as a particular threat and Poland has become a hub for exiled Belarusians.

Minsk called Poland’s initial move “unilateral” and “inhumane” and hit back by imposing restrictions on Polish goods drivers.

It said they would now only be able to enter and leave Belarus through crossings on their common border, and no longer via third countries Lithuania and Latvia.

The various restrictions have resulted in a massive queue at the Koroszczyn checkpoint, with drivers lining up for days waiting to cross.

“There are about 1,900 trucks in that queue, and that corresponds to around 63 hours of waiting,” Polish customs spokesman Michal Drus told AFP.

That final checkpoint will also close to Belarusian goods drivers on Tuesday evening, according to the latest statement from Poland’s interior ministry.

Belarusian carriers will then only be able to return home via Latvia and Lithuania.

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