About 1,500 heavy trucks are currently queuing at the Polish-Belarusian border as Minsk decided only to allow Polish trucks to enter from the border crossing in Kukuryki after Poland recently closed a key crossing.

Poland decided to close the key border crossing in Bobrowniki, more than 200 kilometres northeast of Warsaw, on 10 February after Belarus delivered an eight-year sentence to Andrzej Poczobut, an opposition journalist of Polish origin, as reported by Radio Free Europe.

Since Belarus prohibited Polish trucks from using crossings at borders with Lithuania and Latvia in response, the Kukuryki border crossing is the only way for them to cross, the Polish border guard confirmed.

“Trucks must wait about 53 hours for the border check,” according to the correspondent of Polsat News television, who added that only “over 300 lorries were checked in” on Saturday.

He said that this is expected to strain relations even further and will likely make things even more difficult for Polish companies that have been delivering to Belarus for years. There is also a risk they will lose their contracts to Belarusian and Russian companies.

Belarusian trucks are also affected by the border crossing closing in Bobrowniki, with Polstat News expecting queues to form on the Belarusian side.

Following the migration crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border, Poland decided to suspend border checks at the crossing in Kuźnica from 9 November.

Warsaw has accused Belarus of leading hybrid warfare since the summer of 2021, claiming the country is pushing irregular migrants to cross the border into the EU.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | EURACTIV.pl)