Borders closed from June 1st
Poland bans trucks from Belarus and Russia
05/29/2023, 11:55 p.m
Poland is further tightening its border regime for goods transport from Russia and Belarus. Trucks from both countries are no longer allowed to pass from June 1, the Ministry of the Interior in Warsaw has ordered. 365 government officials in Minsk are on a new sanctions list.
On June 1, Poland will close its border with Belarus for trucks from the eastern neighboring country and from Russia. According to a decree by the Ministry of the Interior, the ban applies until further notice to trucks, tractor units and combinations with trailers or semi-trailers that are registered in one of the two countries.
Poland had previously put 365 other representatives of the government of Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko on a sanctions list. The entry bans against them are a reaction to the upholding of the “draconian verdict” against Polish minority activist Andrzej Poczobut by the Supreme Court of Belarus, the Interior Ministry said.
First border closures after judgment against journalists Poczobut
The Supreme Court of the authoritarian state on Friday confirmed the conviction of the 50-year-old journalist to eight years in a camp for “inciting hatred” and “calling for actions to harm Belarus”. Immediately after Poczobut’s conviction in February, a dispute between Poland and Belarus began with border closures for freight traffic. In mid-February, Poland first closed the Bobrowniki border crossing. In return, Belarus made border traffic more difficult for Polish trucks and expelled three Polish diplomats. At the end of February, Poland also closed the Kukuryki-Koroszczyn crossing for trucks from Belarus. So far, however, it has been possible for trailers from Belarus to cross the border with a Polish tractor.
Poczobut, who was arrested in March 2021, had reported for Polish media on the domestic political crisis triggered by a presidential election on August 9, 2020, which was widely believed to be fraudulent. Lukashenko had repeatedly accused neighboring Poland of being behind the protests. In Belarus, which has ten million inhabitants, the Polish minority is estimated at almost 300,000 people.