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Poland states entry of trucks from Belarus slowed by sanctions

The passage of trucks over the border into Poland from Belarus has been slowed by brand-new sanctions, a Polish custom-mades representative said on Wednesday, after Minsk stated Warsaw had actually stopped allowing trucks to cross.

Long strained Polish-Belarusian relations have sunk to new lows because the break out of a migrant crisis on the border in 2021 with Western officials accusing Minsk of sending migrants from outside of Europe to Poland in a kind of hybrid warfare.

Four of six border crossings are now closed and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has said that Warsaw does not rule out a total closure.

European Union nations agreed on a sanctions package against Belarus in June to punish products being sent out into EU area by Russia via Belarus to avert sanctions enforced over the Russian intrusion of Ukraine.

Belarusian opposition activists have campaigned to get Poland to shut the essential Kukuryki-Kozlovichi crossing to raise pressure on Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, to totally free political prisoners.

The Belarusian customs authority said Poland had actually stopped letting cargo lorries go into from Belarus through the Kukuryki-Kozlovichi crossing - the only one still open for trucks - at 3 a.m. regional time on Wednesday.

It stated there were now 600 trucks waiting in line to cross from Kozlovichi in Belarus to Kukuryki in Poland, whereas none were waiting on Tuesday. Automobiles were still crossing in the other instructions, into Belarus, however slower than typical, it stated.

A Polish national revenue administration representative, Justyna Pasieczynska, stated the checkpoint was not closed but movement had actually slowed due to the fact that of checks associated with brand-new sanctions.

Traffic is moving usually, perhaps a little slower, since sanctions have actually been introduced and we, as the custom-mades and import tax service, have to abide by the policies ... (but) nothing has actually been suspended or obstructed, Pasieczynska stated.

The Belarus border committee said just 110 freight cars had had the ability to cross into Poland in the previous 24 hours, compared to a regular figure of 1,200.

It stated a total of 1,960 freight automobiles were presently waiting to cross from Belarus into EU territory - 600 into Poland, 530 at the single crossing into Latvia and 830 at two checkpoints on the Lithuanian border.

(source: Reuters)