Lithuania has introduced checks on trucks not registered in the Schengen zone at the Polish-Lithuanian border.

On the night of Sunday, February 26, at the Lithuanian-Polish border, in the place of the former Kalvaria border crossing, they started checking the travel permits of truck drivers who are not registered in Schengen, the Lithuanian Transport Safety Authority reports.

Control is carried out by employees of the Transport Safety Administration, traffic police, border guards and customs of Lithuania,

"The drivers of cars registered in third countries are being checked for a permit to pass through Lithuania.

If they don't have the necessary documents, they won't be able to go through Lithuania," said the Lithuanian Transport Security Administration.

How long the inspection will last depends on the development of the situation, Lithuania notes.

  • On February 9, Poland closed the border crossing in Babrovniki (Berestavitsa on the Belarusian side), actually reacting to Andrzej Pachobut's sentence.

  • In response, Belarus restricted the entry of Polish trucks: now trucks and tractors registered in Poland will be able to enter the territory of the Republic of Belarus and leave it only at the Belarusian-Polish border.

  • On February 21, Poland restricted the movement of Belarusian trucks at the last active crossing point "Kukuriki - Kozlovichi".

    The decision also applies to countries that are not part of the European Union and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

  • The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Poland stated that they do not rule out a complete stoppage of traffic on the border with Belarus.

  • Belarusian carriers can still enter Belarus via Lithuania and Latvia.

Closure of border crossings between Poland and Belarus.

What you should know

  • In July 2021,

    Alexander Lukashenko

    said that due to sanctions, Belarus will no longer curb illegal migration to EU countries.

    Poland has become one of the countries to which flows of migrants rushed.

    Responding to the crisis, Poland, like Lithuania, began building a wall on the border with Belarus, and on November 9, 2021, closed the Kuznica Bialystok - Bruzgi crossing.

  • In Warsaw, Lukashenka's regime was accused of organizing illegal migration to EU countries in order to blackmail EU countries and demand the lifting of sanctions.

    Polish Prime Minister

    Mateusz Morawiecki

    expressed confidence that the scenario of "hybrid aggression" against the European Union was not developed by Minsk independently, but in close cooperation with Moscow.

  • On February 9, 2023, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Poland,

    Mariusz Kaminski,

    announced the decision to close the Bobrowniki - Brestowice border crossing starting from February 10.

    This was Poland's response to the political sentence against journalist

    Andrzej Pachobut

    , an activist of the Polish national minority in Belarus.

    He was sentenced to 8 years in prison.

  • There are a total of 6 checkpoints on the Belarusian-Polish border.

    From February 10, 2023, only one of them is open for cars and one for trucks, in Brest.

Border crossings on the border of Belarus and Poland.

Infographics

  • Brest (Terespol on the Polish side) — valid only for cars;

  • Kozlovichi (Kukuriki) — passage is allowed only for trucks;

  • Bruzgi (Kuznica Bialystokskaya) — closed in 2021;

  • Berastovitsa (Bobrovniki), - closed from February 10, 2023;

  • Piaschatka (Polawtsi) - does not function at the initiative of the Polish side;

  • Damachava (Slovatychy) - does not function on the initiative of the Polish side.

    • The border crossing with Lithuania "Privalka - Raigardas" continues to operate near Hrodna.

      It is located close to the border with Poland.

    • At a press conference in Brussels on February 10, the Polish Prime Minister noted that Warsaw is considering the option of closing the remaining two border crossings with Belarus.

      He stated that the Russians and the Kremlin are treating Belarus "instrumentally", and this poses a great threat to Poland and Ukraine.

    • Before the border crossing in Bobrovniki was closed, at least 12 customs officers were detained there.

      It may be about bribery.

      This was reported by Gazeta Wyborcza.

      The publication received information about the detention of customs officers on the night of February 11, already after the border crossing was closed.

    • On February 13, the Border Committee of Belarus reported that the number of cars at other crossings increased by 16% during the first weekend after the closure of Bobrovniki.