The flow of trucks on the border between Poland and Belarus has suffered a significant slowdown following new sanctions imposed by both countries, related to the suspension of the passage of heavy trucks across their common border, a spokesman for Polish customs authorities told Reuters. The decision by Minsk and Warsaw to stop the passage of heavy trucks directly affected trade and transport between the two countries.
Long-strained relations between Poland and Belarus have further deteriorated since the start of the migrant crisis at the border between the two countries in 2021, with Westerners accusing Minsk of sending migrants from outside Europe to Poland and saying in this way, Belarus is waging a "hybrid war", quoted by BTA.
Four of the six border crossings are currently closed and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Szykorski said Warsaw is not ruling out the possibility of closing the borders completely.
EU countries agreed in June to impose sanctions on Belarus to reduce the supply of goods sent to EU countries from Russia via Belarus to circumvent sanctions imposed over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Belarusian opposition activists campaigned to get Poland to close the "Kukuriki-Kozlovichi" border crossing. in order to thereby increase the pressure on Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, to release political prisoners.
Belarusian customs said that Poland has stopped allowing cargo vehicles from Belarus through the "Kukuriki-Kozlovichi" point tonight. - the only border crossing open to trucks. Customs authorities also said that 600 trucks are currently waiting in line from Kozlovichi in Belarus to Kukuriki in Poland, with some of them waiting there since yesterday. Traffic in the opposite direction, to Belarus, is free but slower than usual, they added.
A spokeswoman for the Polish National Tax Service said the border crossing was not closed, but traffic was slow because of checks related to the new sanctions.
"Traffic is moving normally, maybe a little bit slower, because of the imposed sanctions and we as Customs and Excise have to adjust according to the regulations, (but) nothing is stopped or blocked,'' the spokeswoman said.
Belarus' border committee said only 110 trucks had crossed into Poland in the past 24 hours, while around 1,200 normally pass. It said a total of 1,960 freight vehicles were currently waiting to cross from Belarus on the territory of the EU - 600 in Poland, 530 at the only point with Latvia and 830 at the two points on the border with Lithuania.