Draft regulation on the closure of the border with Belarus published

From 12 September until further notice, border traffic with Belarus will be completely suspended - according to a draft regulation published on Wednesday on the website of the Government Legislative Centre.PAP

Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the complete closure of all border crossings with Belarus on Tuesday. The decision is related to the aggressive Russian-Belarusian "Zapad-2025" exercise starting on Friday. On Wednesday, the Government Legislative Centre published a draft regulation on this matter.

The paper provides for the suspension of border traffic from 12 September from 0.00 am until further notice. The Ministry of abroad Affairs stressed that "the complete suspension of border traffic at border crossing points will supply a clear signal about Polish readiness to take extremist action in the event of deteriorating safety situation at the border".

Military maneuvers at the border

In the exercises "Zapad-2025" scheduled for 12-16 September, 13 1000 soldiers are officially to participate. However, the Inspector-General of the German Bundeswehr Carsten Breuer gave larger numbers - 13 000 people in Belarus and 30 000 in Russia.

Belarus' defence minister Wiktar Chrenin passed on 13 August that during the maneuvers he would practice "planning the use" of atomic weapons and Oresznik ballistic missiles. Breuer stated that there was no sign of an attack in NATO's territory under cover of training, but announced to stay vigilant.

Current state of border crossing points

There are presently 5 border crossing points on the border with Belarus - 3 railways and 2 roads. In the Podlaskie Voivodeship, all road crossings have been closed since the migration crisis started in the summertime of 2021.

The transition in Polowce was closed in the COVID-19 pandemic, in Kuźnica has not been operational since November 2021 after the Belarusian attack utilizing migrants. The transition in Bobrowniki closed in February 2023 after the judgement of the Belarusian court on the activist of the Union of Poles in Belarus Andrzej Poczobut.

The hotel explained that the suspension of traffic would let the Border defender forces to usage "more to monitor the border for illegal migration". There are presently 3 passages in Lublin Voivodeship: 2 in Terespol and 1 in Kukuryka for trucks.

Sources used: "PAP" Note: This article was edited with the aid of Artificial Intelligence.