How Long Will Poland's Border With Belarus Be Closed?
- 9.09.2025, 18:30
Poland's interior minister responded.
Poland's decision to completely close the border with Belarus due to the "West-2025" exercise has raised questions about how long the restrictions are imposed for, whether they will affect freight transport and what the economic consequences will be. At a press conference after the government meeting, Polish Minister of Interior and Administration Marcin Kierwiński gave some clarifications.
The journalists asked how long the border closure would last and whether it would be limited only to the time of the "West-2025" exercise. The Minister noted that the decision is directly related to the exercises and is temporary. However, he did not name the exact date of the resumption of traffic.
- Border crossings will be opened only when - and I emphasize this - when we are 100% sure that the situation no longer poses any threat to Poland and Polish citizens," said Kierwiński.
The Minister also specified that it's about the complete closure of the only border crossing in Terespol (from the Belarusian side - "Brest"). This means that the traffic will be stopped both for cars and trucks, as well as for railroad trains.
Kerwiński was asked whether the Polish authorities plan to expand the buffer zone in connection with the closure of the border. The minister assured that there are no such plans at the moment.
With regard to the losses that Poland will incur due to the stoppage of rail transit, including from China, the minister said that security issues are an absolute priority for the government. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Donald Tusk instructed all agencies to assess the potential losses.
We recall that on the morning of September 9, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the decision to completely close the border with Belarus at midnight from Thursday to Friday, September 11 to 12. He explained this step by the "growing number of provocations from Russia and Belarus" and the joint military exercise "West-2025."
The joint Belarus-Russia exercise "West-2025" is to be held from September 12 to 16. Earlier it was reported that during the maneuvers, the militaries of the two countries will practice planning the use of nuclear weapons. This news has already caused a stir on the bus transportation market: tickets from Minsk to Vilnius for the next few days were sold out, while prices for the remaining flights rose sharply.