Poland closes border to trucks with Russian and Belarusian plates
Starting June 1, Poland will completely ban trucks with Russian and Belarusian plates from entering the border with Belarus. The decision was published Monday, May 29, the Government of Poland.
According to the decree, trucks, tractors, trailers, semi-trailers and road trains registered in the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus are prohibited from entering through the Polish-Belarusian border until further notice. At the same time, the document does not mention the introduction of the same ban on the border of Poland and the Kaliningrad region of Russia.
Truck restrictions introduced from February
The situation at the border crossings between Poland and Belarus worsened on February 10, when, by decision of the Polish authorities, work on the Bobrovniki checkpoint (Berestovitsa on the Belarusian side) was suspended. Two days earlier, a Belarusian court sentenced Andrzej Poczobut, a well-known journalist and activist of the Union of Poles in Belarus, to 8 years in prison for calling for sanctions against Belarus, as well as for “inciting social hatred or discord”.
In response to Warsaw’s position, official Minsk announced on February 17 the introduction of restrictions on the movement of trucks with Polish registration: they are prohibited from entering Belarus through Lithuanian and Latvian checkpoints. For these vehicles, crossing the border and transferring cargo became possible only at a checkpoint on the Belarusian-Polish border – “Kukuryki-Kozlovichi”. And on February 21, the Polish authorities also restricted the movement of Russian and Belarusian trucks at this checkpoint.
Poland reinforces the border with the Kaliningrad region
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on April 29 that the protection of the border with the Kaliningrad region would be strengthened in the same way as the border with Belarus. “Modern units and modern weapons will be deployed in the region”, emphasized the head of government.
In 2022, Poland built a fence 186 km long and 5.5 m high on the border with Belarus, with coils of barbed wire and integrated electronic control systems. Around 350 million euros were spent on the project. This year, a similar wall is planned to be erected on the border with the Russian Federation.
Source: DW
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