{"id":154562,"date":"2025-09-09T20:03:52","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T17:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/154562\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"polands-border-closure-may-extend-beyond-zapad-2025-as-tensions-escalate","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/154562\/","title":{"rendered":"Poland\u2019s border closure may extend beyond Zapad-2025 as tensions escalate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n \"\"\n
\n \n
\n (Polish Border Guard)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

September 9, Pozirk. <\/strong><\/em>Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwi\u0144ski has announced that Poland will close its border with Belarus not only during the Zapad-2025 military exercise, scheduled for September 12\u201316, but possibly for a longer period. He said that the border would open when officials are fully confident that Belarus does not pose a direct threat to Poland or its citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier, Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed that Warsaw would close the border with Belarus, including railway crossings, starting September 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tusk described the joint Russian-Belarusian exercise as \u201caggressive,\u201d noting that its scenario centers on the vulnerable Suwa\u0142ki Gap between Lithuania and Poland. He also pointed to mounting tensions between the two countries, citing the recent arrest of Grzegorz Gawe\u0142, a Carmelite monk, in Lepiel, Viciebsk region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tensions between Belarus and the European Union have intensified in the run-up to the drills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On September 4, the Belarus 1<\/em> state television channel, linked to the Committee for State Security (KGB), reported the violent arrest of Grzegorz Gawe\u0142, born in 1998 and a resident of Krakow. He was accused of spying for Poland to collect information about Belarusian military command and preparations for the exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On September 8, the Czech Security Information Service announced that it had dismantled a Belarusian spy network operating with the cooperation of Hungarian and Romanian intelligence services. The same day, the Czech Foreign Ministry declared a Belarusian diplomat, identified as an intelligence operative, persona non grata.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Tusk announced that Warsaw would expel a Belarusian diplomat for \u201csupporting aggressive actions of Belarusian secret services against our country.\u201d The Belarusian foreign ministry condemned the expulsions and Poland\u2019s decision to shut its border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to the Russian-Belarusian maneuvers, neighboring states have launched large-scale exercises of their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latvia is conducting Namejs 2025, involving about 12,000 Latvian and allied troops, including forces from Estonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lithuania has begun Perk\u016bno Griausmas, with some 17,000 Lithuanian and NATO personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poland is carrying out Iron Defender-25, its largest strategic exercise of the year, involving around 34,000 Polish and allied soldiers and more than 600 units of military equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minsk has not disclosed the expected size of its forces in Zapad-2025. However, Mindaugas Ma\u017eonas, head of Lithuania\u2019s Second Investigation Department, suggested in an interview with LRT<\/em> that the drills in Belarus could involve around 8,000 troops, including about 2,000 from Russia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

September 9, Pozirk. Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwi\u0144ski has announced that Poland will close its border with Belarus not only during the Zapad-2025 military exercise, scheduled for September 12\u201316, but possibly for a longer period. He said that the border would open when officials are fully confident that Belarus does not pose a direct threat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":92161,"template":"","rubric":[16,30],"class_list":["post-154562","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics","rubric-security"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPoland\u2019s border closure may extend beyond Zapad-2025 as tensions escalate | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"September 9, Pozirk. 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