September 17, Pozirk. Amid rising tensions between Minsk and Warsaw over the Polish-Belarusian border closure, the Belarusian State Customs Committee has extended the temporary stay of Polish trucks on Belarusian territory for another 10 days. The announcement came after Warsaw refused to reopen the border yesterday.
Poland closed all checkpoints on the shared border with Belarus on September 12, citing risks posed by the Belarusian-Russian military exercise Zapad-2025, which began the same day and concluded on September 16.
Earlier, Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said that Warsaw would reopen the border only once officials were fully confident that Belarus does not pose a direct threat to Poland or its citizens.
The Belarusian State Customs Committee described its decision to allow Polish trucks to remain in Belarus longer as a gesture of “good neighborliness,” intended to support Polish businesses it said had “become hostages to the actions of their own government.”
The agency blamed Warsaw for leaving 1,453 Polish-registered trucks stranded in Belarus, noting that the vehicles can exit only via the Belarusian-Polish section of the border. Carriers must apply to Belarusian customs authorities to extend the period of temporary importation for the trucks, the committee emphasized.
Two days ago, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi discussed Poland’s role in goods transit from Asia to Europe. Warsaw reportedly warned Chinese partners about Russia’s destabilizing actions, expressing hope that China would raise the issue with Moscow and Minsk.
Earlier this month, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk described the joint Russian-Belarusian exercise as “aggressive,” noting that its scenario focuses on the vulnerable Suwałki Gap between Lithuania and Poland. He also highlighted growing tensions between the two countries, citing the recent arrest of Grzegorz Gaweł, a Carmelite monk, in Lepiel, Viciebsk region.
In the run-up to the drills, Belarus 1 state television, linked to the Committee for State Security (KGB), reported the violent arrest of Grzegorz Gaweł, born in 1998 and a resident of Krakow. He was accused of spying for Poland, allegedly gathering information on Belarusian military command and preparations for the exercise.
On September 8, the Czech Security Information Service announced that it had dismantled a Belarusian spy network in cooperation with the Hungarian and Romanian intelligence services. That same day, the Czech foreign ministry declared a Belarusian diplomat, identified as an intelligence operative, persona non grata.
On September 9, Tusk announced that Warsaw would expel a Belarusian diplomat for “supporting aggressive actions of Belarusian secret services against our country.” The Belarusian foreign ministry strongly condemned both the expulsions and Poland’s decision to close the border.
