If there are such needs, especially if they are motivated by security, we will certainly be ready to do so, said Deputy Foreign Minister Paweł Jabłoński on Tuesday, when asked about the possibility of completely closing the borders with Belarus. to close.
On Monday, the Ministry of the Interior and Administration announced that due to the restrictions introduced by the Belarusian authorities on Polish airlines regarding the possibility of crossing the border at the Belarusian-Lithuanian and Belarusian borders, Minister Mariusz Kamiński Russian-Latvian border crossings, decided the movement of Belarusian cargo vehicles at the Kukuryki-Kozłowicze border crossing.
Will the Polish authorities completely close the border with Belarus?
Jabłoński was asked on Channel One of Polish Radio on Tuesday whether we would completely close the borders with Belarus.
If there are such needs, especially motivated by security, we will certainly be ready
replied the Secretary of State.
At the same time, he noted that this will be constantly analyzed.
It is not that we make these decisions solely on the basis of political factors, because we are aware that there are also carriers who can transport goods that are not subject to the embargo across the border and take advantage of this. However, if our analyzes indicate an increasing threat to security, such decisions may be made
– added.
A sharp dispute with Minsk
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus on Friday announced restrictions on Polish carriers in response to the closure of the border crossing in Bobrowniki. As a result of these restrictions, Polish carriers can enter and leave Belarus through all truck border crossings, but only “on the Polish-Belarusian part of the border”. They cannot use Belarus’ border crossings with Lithuania and Latvia.
On Friday, the Minister of the Interior and Administration, Mariusz Kamiński, referred to these announcements.
If the Belarusian authorities apply the announced restrictions to Polish airlines, the Polish response to Belarusian airlines will be identical
he wrote on Twitter.
On Saturday, a spokeswoman for the border guard, Lieutenant Anna Michalska, informed PAP that Polish carriers cannot use border crossings on the part of the Belarusian border with Lithuania and Latvia due to the restrictions put in place by Belarus; they are checked only at the Kukuryki-Koroszczyn border crossing. A border guard spokeswoman told PAP that Polish carriers have not been allowed through the Lithuanian-Belarusian and Latvian-Belarusian parts of the border since the morning.
Cars of Polish carriers leaving or entering Belarus are only released at the Kukuryki-Koroszczyn border crossing. Due to restrictions introduced from the Belarusian side, Polish carriers cannot use border crossings on the route with Lithuania and Latvia
– informed Lieutenant Michalska.
On February 9, Poland announced the closure of the border crossing in Bobrowniki, the last in the Grodno region, “due to the importance of state security”. The day before, a Belarusian court in Grodno sentenced Andrzej Poczobut, a Polish minority activist and journalist, to eight years in prison.
For more than a year, Bobrowniki was the only functioning border crossing into Belarus in Podlasie, handling freight and passenger traffic. Currently, there is not a single active border crossing with Belarus in Podlasie. On November 9, 2021, due to the migration crisis, the largest road crossing with Belarus – in Kuźnica – was closed until further notice. The crossing in Polowce is also closed. Only border crossings in Lubelskie Voivodeship are open: Terespol – for passenger transport and Koroszczyn-Kukuryki – for freight transport.
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— The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration responds to Minsk’s provocations: from tomorrow traffic restrictions for Belarusian trucks at the Kukuryki-Kozłowicze intersection
– Morawiecki: “We do not rule out closing other border crossings with Belarus.” The reason for the tension due to the regime’s actions
— Belarus introduced restrictions on Polish airlines. “They cannot use border crossings on the route with Lithuania and Latvia”
— The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration halted traffic at the border crossing in Bobrowniki! Rode? “Heavy State Security Interest”
– MFA spokesperson: By Wednesday, Belarus will expel a liaison officer of the Polish Border Guard and two employees of the Polish consulate in Grodno
olk/PAP
Source: wPolityce