Poland Closes 'Bobrowniki' Crossing Point Following Verdict To Andrzej Poczobut

The way the Belarusians react to the news about the closure of the "Bobrowniki" checkpoint.

Polish checkpoint "Bobrowniki" has suspended its operation since February 10.

This was announced by the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration of Poland, Mariusz Kaminski.

"Due to the important interests of national security, I have decided to suspend until further notice the traffic at the Polish-Belarusian border crossing point in Bobrowniki starting from February 10 this year, 12:00," he said.

This is how Poland reacted to the sentence upon Andrzej Poczobut, a journalist and one of the leaders of the Union of Poles in Belarus. Lukashists sentenced him to eight years in jail.

Now there are no more border crossings with Poland in Hrodna region. The checkpoint "Bruzhi - Kuznica" was closed during the crisis of illegal migrants in 2021.

Now Hrodna region residents, as a result of the Lukashenka regime's policy, have to go to Poland either through Brest region or through checkpoints on the border with Lithuania ("Beniakoni", "Pryvalka").

Belarusians actively react to the news about the closing of the crossing point in the chats, where border crossing was discussed:

"Kapooey, took tickets with the child for the 13th. Through Terespol. I can imagine what's going on there".

"Thank you, bald man, you've done me a favour."

"Astrologers have announced a week (month/year) of queues at the border."

"There's still time to leave today."

"And how do I go now? Through Lithuania?".

This is a big blow for cargo transportations as well as for small businesses. The Charter97.org website asked a Hrodna resident, who often travels to Poland via "Bobrowniki", to comment on the closure of the crossing.

"The closing of the crossing point is the destruction of both shuttle traders and the business of sole traders. In recent months, queues at the border have already reached 27 kilometres. With the closure of the Bruzghi crossing point, the load on Bobrowniki was extremely heavy.

Everyone was going there: Hrodna and Minsk residents. At the same time, the load on the Brest direction went up. Now the queues at the Warsaw Bridge will increase several times.

Naturally, it's a blow to the carriers. The shuttle drivers, who used to take people "for purchases," will either have to close or take people through Brest.

Large trucks will be affected the most. Despite the fact that the Kazlovitchy checkpoint remains, it is at Bobrowniki that trailer coupling was allowed, while the allowed routes from the Kazlovitchy checkpoint dictate to head for cargo operations to temporary storage depots, where only reloading is possible, as well as to customs clearance points, where trailer coupling is carried out with restrictions.

This is, of course, a massive blow to the shuttle traders' business. The mutually beneficial position helped both the citizens of Hrodna to "run off" for shopping at bargain prices and brought profit to the traders who imported goods. Now few people would want to queue and add an extra four hours to the route to Brest," the Hrodna resident told Charter97.org.