The Minsk regime is reportedly using ordinary citizens to voice dissent against Poland, following the Polish government’s decision to close the Bobrowniki border crossing and Warsaw’s policies, according to Stanislaw Żaryn, the government plenipotentiary for the security of the Republic of Poland’s information space.
Żaryn described a scene organized by Belarusian services as a grassroots picket in front of the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Grodno. Participants carried Belarusian flags and chanted anti-Polish slogans, expressing opposition to what they deem Poland’s unfriendly stance and the border closures.
Representatives he termed as the nation’s mouthpieces urged Poland to halt sabotage and what they called provocations harming regional security, insisting Warsaw should distance itself from what they described as American hegemony.
These remarks appeared in a post on Twitter by the Polish official on Tuesday, outlining the Belarusian narrative as seen from the Polish side.
Żaryn added that activists in Grodno argued Minsk was still open to dialogue and that Belarus respects freedom and open borders, countering claims that the border policy was a move away from cooperation.
The Grodno demonstrators argued that Poland’s decisions, especially the border closures, negatively affect ordinary Poles and that Belarus has emerged as a popular destination for visa-free travel in recent months, which they described as evidence of close ties and mutual opportunity between the two nations.
Those comments were attributed to Żaryn, who framed the border policy as a test of regional stability and cooperation in the face of perceived pressure from outside powers.
Further notes from Żaryn suggested that the Polish interior ministry’s decision to close the Bobrowniki crossing has prompted accusations from Belarusian authorities that Warsaw pursues confrontational, socially harmful policies, with the Polish side allegedly facing internal doubts about these measures.
In Belarus, state media and government voices have warned of imminent responses to what they view as provocations on the border, casting the Polish actions in stark terms and suggesting a potential escalation in rhetoric and activities on Minsk’s side.
Żaryn described the Belarusian regime’s campaign as an attempt to pressure Poland through propaganda and public demonstrations, arguing that the decision to close another border crossing with Belarus exposed a vulnerability in Minsk’s approach and elicited a painful reaction among Minsk’s leadership.
Closure of the border crossing in Bobrowniki
On February 9, Poland announced the closure of the Bobrowniki border crossing, the last remaining crossing in the Grodno region, citing state security concerns. In the preceding days, a Grodno court sentenced Andrzej Poczobut, a Polish minority activist and journalist, to eight years in prison, a move described by Polish observers as politically charged and impactful on cross-border relations.
For more than a year, Bobrowniki was the sole functioning border point into Belarus for the Podlaskie region, handling both freight and passenger traffic. At present, there are no active border crossings with Belarus in Podlaskie. The Kuźnica crossing, previously the largest, was closed in November 2022 amid migration pressures, and the Polowce crossing has remained closed as well.
tkwl/PAP/Twitter
Source: wPolityce