Collapse Occurs At Poland-Belarus Border

The drivers are waiting for 40 hours.

The holidays have seriously affected the situation at the only open border checkpoint on the border between Belarus and Poland. There is a huge queue of buses and cars heading to Belarus in Terespol, on the Polish side. For some people the agony is already over. 40 hours - that's how long it took these days to cross the border, writes onlíner with reference to a reader.

40 hours in a queue is a small life with its own domestic issues.

- People standing from the ring to the checkpoint (about 2.3 km) were walking from the end of the queue to the beginning to buy a packet of cigarettes. There is a shortage of everything there: there is no food, water or fuel. All along the road from the ring to the checkpoint, the communal workers were hanging rubbish bags on the fences.

"The queue to the toilet in Centrum Handlowe consisted of 70-80 girls," says the interlocutor.

Why girls? Men answer this question evasively.

At some point the nerves started to fail. And the drivers, who still had to pass the control, began to honk desperately.

- The people were simply protesting against what was happening, how the traffic was being let through or, more precisely, not being let through.

- And what was the reaction?

- They slowly started letting in. Very unwillingly, with shouting. In general, there was only one person on the Polish side, checking transport. At the entrance to the bridge there was another border guard who was regulating traffic. At the entrance to the border crossing point, they were letting in buses, cramming all the corridors with them, and they were in no hurry to let them onto the bridge. People were complaining and were told the same thing: "Call the ministry, but our goal is to let the buses through. Someone was told on the Polish hotline that they would only have one passage channel working on Christmas Day, - the reader continues.

This does not mean that the reality was easier for those travelling in buses.

- At 12 noon on December 24, there were about 50 buses travelling from Poland to Belarus at the border.

People were moving to another bus just to get home as quickly as possible: I heard that they were asked from $10 to $400 for boarding, and this is from the checkpoint to Brest," says the interlocutor.

Having gone through all the described tortures, the reader finally reached the checkpoint "Brest" on the Belarusian side.

The queue and the Polish cafe, where by that time only a few bottles of water and biscuits were on sale, remained behind him.

- If not to count standing in the queue, but to speak only about passing the control, then on the Polish side it took about 2 hours, on the Belarusian side (taking into account the green corridor) - 15-20 minutes. In general, I am very happy that I am finally home with my family. And to those who are still in line, I advise to stock up on water, food, fill up full tanks, take warm clothes and be patient, - concluded the interlocutor.

"Euroradio" says that the frantic queues to enter Belarus have formed not because of the slow work of border guards or customs officers. The reason is in the interrogations, to which the KGB officers take bus passengers.

"They interrogate people for hours, while everyone is waiting," says an eyewitness. "A couple of people were taken off the bus for interrogation - all the rest of us were waiting for a couple of hours".

A full search and conversation with a KGB officer awaits people, spotted at the protests, at the entrance to Belarus. Usually during the interrogation they are asked to show their phones. They may also be asked about this or that contact - who it is, what it has to do with the passenger. Telegram and social networks are checked.