Sanctions Impact: Truck Traffic Slowed at Poland-Belarus Border

The passage of trucks from Belarus into Poland has been affected by newly introduced sanctions. With worsening Polish-Belarusian relations, only two of six border crossings remain open. Western nations accuse Minsk of hybrid warfare, using migrants as weapons. Sanctions are aimed to curb goods from Russia via Belarus, leading to longer wait times for truck drivers.

The passage of trucks over the border into Poland from Belarus has been slowed by new sanctions, a Polish customs spokesperson said on Wednesday, after Minsk announced that Warsaw had stopped allowing lorries to cross.

Long strained Polish-Belarusian relations have sunk to new lows since the outbreak of a migrant crisis on the border in 2021. Western officials accuse Minsk of sending migrants from outside of Europe to Poland as a form of 'hybrid warfare.' Currently, four of six border crossings are closed, and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has stated that Warsaw does not rule out a complete closure.

In June, European Union countries agreed on a sanctions package against Belarus to crack down on goods being sent into EU territory by Russia via Belarus to evade sanctions imposed due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Belarusian opposition activists have campaigned for Poland to shut the key Kukuryki-Kozlovichi crossing to pressure Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, to free political prisoners.

The Belarusian customs authority reported that Poland had stopped allowing cargo vehicles to enter from Belarus via the Kukuryki-Kozlovichi crossing - the only crossing still open for trucks - at 3 a.m. local time on Wednesday. As a result, 600 trucks were now waiting to cross from Kozlovichi in Belarus to Kukuryki in Poland, compared to none on Tuesday. Vehicles were still crossing into Belarus, albeit more slowly than usual.

A Polish national revenue administration spokesperson, Justyna Pasieczynska, clarified that the checkpoint was not closed but movement had slowed due to checks related to new sanctions. 'Traffic is moving normally, maybe a little slower, because sanctions have been introduced and we, as the customs and excise service, have to comply with the regulations... (but) nothing has been suspended or blocked,' Pasieczynska said.

The Belarus border committee said only 110 freight vehicles had managed to cross into Poland in the previous 24 hours, compared to the normal figure of 1,200. Overall, 1,960 freight vehicles were currently waiting to cross from Belarus into EU territory, including 600 into Poland, 530 at the single crossing into Latvia, and 830 at two checkpoints on the Lithuanian border.

(With inputs from agencies.)