Poland may reopen the border crossings with Belarus that were closed in 2023, but the government has set several conditions for Alexander Lukashenko’s regime. According to Rzeczpospolita, the demands concern the ongoing migration crisis and the imprisonment of journalist Andrzej Poczobut.
Tensions between Warsaw and Minsk reached their peak ahead of the joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises Zapad. In fear of possible provocations, the Polish government decided to close the border on September 12. It was reopened during the night of September 24–25, shortly before the visit of China’s foreign minister to Poland — a country that exports goods worth 30 billion dollars annually to the European Union via railway routes passing through Belarus.
As Rzeczpospolita reports, the Polish-Belarusian border was reopened conditionally and may be closed again at any time. The newspaper writes that Poland has presented Lukashenko with three key conditions for reopening all border crossings. The first is an end to the migration crisis along the Polish-Belarusian border, which has persisted since 2021. The second condition is the release of imprisoned journalist Andrzej Poczobut, a member of the Polish minority in Belarus sentenced in 2023 to eight years in a penal colony. The third is cooperation in determining the perpetrators responsible for the killing of Polish soldier Mateusz Sitek, who died in a violent incident on the border earlier this year.
Government sources told Rzeczpospolita that Belarus is aware of Poland’s list of priorities, but so far there has been no progress in any of these areas. Lukashenko is also said to have received another offer — the reopening of previously closed crossings if he releases Poczobut and helps de-escalate tensions at the frontier. This likely refers to the Bobrowniki border crossing, which was closed in 2023 under the previous Law and Justice government following Poczobut’s conviction. The reopening of the Kuźnica crossing, which remains closed for both passenger and freight traffic, is also a possibility.
The situation remains tense, and Polish authorities emphasize that the border could be closed again at any sign of renewed hostility or provocation from the Belarusian side.
