Poland closed all border crossings on the border with Belarus at midnight local time (01:00 Bulgarian time), which were operating until then. This was announced by the country's Interior Minister Marcin Kerwiński at the only passenger checkpoint operating until his statement in Terespol.
„At midnight, we closed traffic on the border with Belarus. This is due to the Zapad-2025 exercises,“ the minister said at a press conference broadcast by TVP Info. „The traffic will resume, but only when we are sure that the safety of Poles is guaranteed. From an economic point of view, we will try to resume border traffic as soon as possible,“ he added he.
In addition to the checkpoint in Terespol, traffic across the Polish-Belarusian border has been suspended at the Kukuriki-Kozlovichi checkpoint for freight transport, as well as at three border crossings on the railway line - Kuznitsa Belostotskaya - Grodno, Semyanovka - Svisloch, Terespol - Brest.
On September 9, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the closure of the border with Belarus on the night of September 11-12 in connection with the start of the Belarusian-Russian exercises “West-2025“. The next day, Kervinsky signed the corresponding order. According to it, the measure applies to both directions - entry and exit - for both people and freight road and rail transport and will be in force “until further notice“.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry called Warsaw's decision "groundless and anti-national". In turn, the Russian Foreign Ministry called on Poland to think about the consequences of closing the border with Belarus and to reconsider the decision as soon as possible.