The queue through Brest increases due to extended visas

After Poland closed the crossing in Bobrovniki, the flows were divided between the Polish crossing in Brest, a number of Lithuanian and even Latvian ones.

On March 23, according to the information of the Border Committee of Belarus, the biggest queue was at the Brest - Tarespol crossing: more than 300 cars.

The queue there grows due to people who can cross the border only through the Polish crossing point.

For example, Belarusians with extended Polish visas.

These are visas that expired when a person was on the territory of Poland and that were automatically extended until the end of the coronavirus epidemic in Poland - until August 23, 2023.

You cannot travel with them to other EU countries.

The busiest crossing in Lithuania is now in Beniakony — 110 cars.

Shuttle buses from Hrodna to Bialystok now go through Privalka (price from 80 rubles), from Minsk to Warsaw - through Brest (price from 100 rubles).

Shop tours on large buses are offered from Hrodna to Białystok via Benyakoni for 90 rubles.

Shuttle buses still have priority at the border and are faster than private cars.

The price of a place for "refueling" has increased by 2-3 times, up to 30 dollars

Of our interlocutors, Veronika* (all names have been changed for the sake of security. — RS), who was traveling from the Horaden Oblast to Bialystok, spent the most time on the road in March.

The journey took 26 hours.

They left Bialystok at noon.

At Privalka, they saw that there was a long queue, and moved to Benyakonye, ​​which is plus 130 kilometers.

And on the fourth night they came home.

"We stood for five hours without traffic at the Lithuanian border.

There were 57 cars in front of us, we counted during this time.

They let us in only when the shift changed," said the Belarusian.

She was driving a car with a "top-up".

Drivers and companions look for each other through border chats on Viber and Telegram.

A place in a car now costs 20–30 dollars, before the closure of Bobrovniki it was 10. They also offer passengers a ride for free, but at the cost of their weight.

That is, the passenger travels without belongings, and the driver thanks to this carries 31 kilograms of goods - that much is allowed per person.

They are asked to lay out everything that "rings" and is checked with a target detector

The woman said that upon entering Belarus, the Belarusian border guards ask to put away all metal things that "ring" and check people on the street with metal detectors.

A few more of our interlocutors also told about it.

There was no such procedure before.

"At the Lithuanian border they asked me where I was going.

They look into bags, suitcases, see what I'm carrying.

I had nothing forbidden.

Belarusians always let me out of Belarus easily, they look at the car, but they don't dig into things.

They didn't check my phone," said Veronika.

From her words, the Belarusian border guards ask when she last traveled abroad.

Check the weight of things.

"In Babrovniki, there used to be greater supervision from the Belarusian side when you enter Belarus.

The customs officials were more "arrested" there, it felt like they were both the king and the god at the border, they were more biased than the Lithuanian ones," the Belarusian believes.

Veronika notices one more point: almost all those who travel by regular buses are people aged 25-50.

"These are people of working age who pay taxes, and they go to work in the European Union.

Those who go shopping drive their own cars," she muses.

"Did other people ask you to pass anything?"

Alexandra said that people in civilian clothes are now interrogating at the border.

She was traveling from Minsk to Warsaw by bus.

According to her words, on the Belarusian side they were interrogated in detail by eight men in civilian clothes, they were not wearing the uniforms of border guards or customs officers.

They asked to show all the things, to take out all the clothes.

"They asked questions: "What are you carrying?

And what is in this box?

Where are you going?

What is the end point?

Why are you going?

Who will you meet?

Have other people asked you to pass something on?

Are you planning to go to some actions in Warsaw?".

One girl, who said she was going to see celebrities in Warsaw, was told exactly which ones.

Some men's phones were checked," says Alexandra.

They stayed at the Belarusian border for 8 hours.

From the Polish side, the border guards selectively "drove" things through the "television" - a device that takes pictures of the bags.

According to Belarusians, many people from Minsk traveled with large suitcases, carriers with cats, said goodbye to their relatives and cried, because, presumably, they were leaving for a long time.

"The border guard asked who was driving who in the car"

Elena traveled from Hrodna to Bialystok via Benyakoni by car.

They passed the entire border in 13 hours, the entire journey took about 20.

"We arrived at the border at the cesspool at night.

There were more than 90 cars in front of us in the waiting area, not including those that were in neutral.

Belarusians sometimes let 19 cars pass in 2 hours, then none in one hour.

I don't know what it depends on.

Only after 7 hours we were called to cross the border.

They crossed the Belarusian border quickly, without any problems," says Alena.

They stayed on neutral territory for another 2 hours.

From the observations of Belarusians, Lithuanians worked very slowly at the border.

In addition, she suggests, they have a biased attitude towards Belarusians - as people from the "third world".

She felt the same before the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine.

"The passport control procedure is simple.

The most difficult part is the waiting area.

When Lithuanians crossed the border, a different attitude was felt, they were quickly approached.

The driver I was traveling with once drove slightly past the stop line.

The Lithuanian border guard defiantly took him out of the car and started shouting at him," the interlocutor recalls.

When entering Lithuania, Lithuanian border guards asked how much money Belarusians have with them, where they are going and for how long.

On the way back from Poland to Belarus, I had to wait at the Lithuanian border for 7 hours before going to the checkpoint.

In total, crossing the border took 10 hours.

"The Lithuanian customs officer asked to prepare all purchased goods in advance so as not to delay the queue.

Belarusians were searched with a target detector.

This was not the case before.

The Belarusian customs officer also asked to remove all the goods and weighed them.

I asked who is responsible for whom in the car," says Alena.

The girl noticed a bus from Baranavichy at the border in Benyakony when entering Belarus, it was quickly passed.

A bus with Brest license plates arrived and took people on a shopping tour.

"The bus from Brest went to the Red Canal.

They entered the border at 9 o'clock in the evening and left it at 9 o'clock in the morning.

All the passengers checked out the goods on "cotton wool", she says.

"Due to the closed Bobrovniki, the road has increased by 3-4 hours"

Belarus Sergei earlier, when Bobrovniki was still open, managed to slip into Poland in 5 hours of common travel.

Now his journey from Minsk region to Bialystok via Benyakoni took about 20 hours, crossing the border - about 12.

"Due to the closed Bobrovniki, the road has increased by 3-4 hours, plus the load on the border crossings has increased, so it is unlikely that you will be able to get through quickly," he comments.

Sergei monitors the website of the Border Committee and chooses where the queue is the shortest, through that crossing and goes.

It also focuses on cross-border groups in social networks, where current information is presented.

"Belarusian border guards and customs officers did not ask me anything, did not check anything.

Everyone who was driving nearby was also not checked.

Lithuanian border guards asked where I was going," he says about his experience.

According to his observations, it is best to go to Poland in the middle of the week, and the queues are the longest at the weekend.

"Everyone checks quickly, everyone understands that there are queues.

There is no feeling that the Belarusians or Lithuanians are deliberately slowing down, everyone was in a hurry so that the queue would pass faster," he sums up.