The head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, Mariusz Kamiński, decided to limit the movement of Belarusian freight vehicles at the Kukuryki-Kozłowicze border crossing from Tuesday at 7 pm, the ministry announced on Monday. It was noted that the restriction does not apply to passenger traffic at the border crossing in Terespol. The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Łukasz Jasina, said in turn that “a liaison officer of the Polish border guard will leave Belarus by Wednesday evening.” He added that two employees of the Polish consulate in Grodno would probably be expelled as well.
“In connection with the restrictions introduced by the Belarusian authorities on Polish carriers regarding the possibility of crossing the border at the Belarusian-Lithuanian and Belarusian-Latvian border crossings, Minister Mariusz Kaminski decided to limit the movement of Belarusian freight vehicles at the Kukuryki-Kozłowicze border crossing. MIA.
As emphasized, the restriction does not apply to passenger traffic at the border crossing in Terespol. According to the announcement, the suspension of traffic will apply from February 21 from 7 p.m., “until the Belarusian authorities lift restrictions on Polish carriers. “At the same time, Belarusian carriers may go to Belarus by Lithuania and Latvia,” the ministry said.
Kukuryki-Kozłowicze border crossingTVN24
MFA spokesman: The liaison officer of the Border Guard and probably two employees of the consulate will leave Belarus
The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Łukasz Jasina, informed the Polish Press Agency on Monday that “the liaison officer of the Polish border guard will leave Belarus by Wednesday evening.” “Two employees of the Polish consulate in Grodno will probably also be expelled,” he added. He also said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was informed about the case at the end of last week. He stressed that the Polish consulate in Grodno is still operating.
The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed in a communiqué that “the number of employees of the Polish Consulate General in Grodno should be equal to the number of employees of the Belarusian Consulate General in Bialystok.”
The Belarusian authorities stated, inter alia, that they “see no point” in the further presence of a liaison officer of the Polish Border Guard on their territory.
Since mid-2019, this function has been held by Lt. Col. Border Guard Marek Gierasimiuk. As the spokeswoman of the Border Guard explained to PAP, he is the first liaison officer in Belarus. The main task of such an officer is to facilitate cooperation between services. He is part of the diplomatic corps.
Restrictions for Polish carriers
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus announced restrictions on Polish carriers on Friday in response to closing the border crossing in Bobrowniki. As a result of these restrictions, Polish carriers can enter and leave Belarus through any border crossings for trucks, but only “on the Polish-Belarusian section of the border”. They cannot use the border crossings of Belarus with Lithuania and Latvia.
On Friday, the Minister of the Interior and Administration referred to these announcements. “If the Belarusian authorities apply the announced restrictions to Polish carriers, Poland’s reaction to Belarusian carriers will be identical,” Kamiński wrote on Twitter.
On Saturday, Lieutenant Anna Michalska, a spokeswoman for the Border Guard, informed PAP that due to the restrictions introduced by Belarus, Polish carriers cannot use border crossings on the section of the Belarusian border with Lithuania and Latvia and are only cleared at the Kukuryki-Koroszczyn border crossing.
Closure of the crossing in Bobrowniki
On February 9, Poland announced the closure of the border crossing in Bobrowniki, the last one operating in the Grodno region, “due to the interest of state security.” The day before, a Belarusian court in Grodno sentenced a Polish minority activist and journalist to eight years in a penal colony Andrzej Poczobut.
For over a year, Bobrowniki was the only operating road border crossing with Belarus in Podlasie, where goods and passenger traffic took place. Currently, there is not a single active road border crossing with Belarus in Podlasie. November 9, 2021 in connection with migration crisis the largest road crossing with Belarus – in Kuźnica – has been closed until further notice. The crossing in Połowce is also closed. Only crossings in the Lubelskie Voivodeship are open: Terespol – for passenger traffic and Koroszczyn-Kukuryki – for goods traffic.
Main photo source: TVN24