WARSAW: New sanctions have slowed the passage of trucks crossing from Belarus into Poland, according to a spokesperson from the Polish customs on Wednesday, following Minsk’s accusation that Warsaw had halted lorries from entering.
Polish-Belarusian relations, already strained, have deteriorated further since the migrant crisis erupted on the border in 2021, with Western officials alleging Belarus of using migrants as a tool of “hybrid warfare” against Poland.
As a result, four out of six border crossings are now shut, and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has not ruled out a complete closure.
The European Union countries jointly implemented sanctions against Belarus in June to counter the flow of goods routed through Belarus from Russia, evading sanctions imposed due to the Ukraine conflict.
Belarusian opposition activists have campaigned for the closure of the crucial Kukuryki-Kozlovichi crossing, aiming to exert pressure on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, to release political prisoners.
Belarusian customs said that Poland had ceased permitting cargo trucks through the Kukuryki-Kozlovichi crossing as of 3 a.m. local time on Wednesday. Currently, approximately 600 trucks are queued from Kozlovichi in Belarus to Kukuryki in Poland, contrasting with none the previous day. Traffic into Belarus is still permitted but is slower due to increased checks stemming from the new sanctions.
Justyna Pasieczynska, a spokesperson for the Polish National Revenue Administration, clarified that while there is no closure at the checkpoint, traffic has slowed down due to compliance with the new sanctions regulations.
