Belarusian border service slams Poland's decision to close down Bobrowniki

The actions by the Polish authorities could lead to a transport collapse on both sides of the border, BelTA learned from the State Border Committee of Belarus.

Poland cited public safety as a reason for closing the Bobrowniki checkpoint. The Belarusian side believes that the pretext does not correspond to reality as there is no threat from the territory of Belarus.

"Since 2020, the Polish authorities have closed international communication channels under various pretexts. As a result of such decisions, only 3 out of 6 checkpoints were operational, which negatively affected the situation on both sides of the border and led to protests by Polish cargo carriers, who had to queue for a long time due to the slow registration by the Polish side," the State Border Committee noted.

With the closure of yet another Polish border crossing, the situation will become catastrophic and can lead to a collapse in the border area. The work load on the remaining two checkpoints will increase dramatically. Large trucks will be able to cross the border in the Polish direction only through the Kukuryki-Kozlovichi checkpoint, passenger cars - through the Terespol-Brest checkpoint.

Polish citizens wishing to visit Belarus under the visa waiver program will be able to enter the country only through the Terespol checkpoint. Since the launch of the visa waiver program for neighboring EU countries, Belarus has hosted about 26,000 Polish citizens, almost 10,000 of them came through the Bobrowniki checkpoint.

“The decision by the Polish authorities to close another channel of international communication is actually aimed at exacerbating the situation on the border and restricting mutual travel of citizens rather than ensuring public safety,” the State Border Committee said.