In the Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland, on Monday, November 17, two automobile checkpoints on the border with Belarus resumed operation — in Kuznica and Bobrowniki.
This is reported by RMF FM.
The crossings were closed for four and more than two and a half years, respectively. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the administration stated that the opening became possible after the border, which had previously been heavily attempted by migrants to cross illegally, was fully fortified.
The head of the province, Jacek Brzozowski, stressed that the closure period was particularly difficult for business, as local entrepreneurs “lost their fortunes and their life’s work”. According to him, the closure of the crossings in 2021 and 2023 effectively brought one of the key parts of the regional economy to a standstill.
Entrepreneurs received compensation, but only in the communities where the checkpoints themselves were located, while companies from across the region — from hotels and restaurants to transportation companies — suffered losses.
Border guards assure that they are ready for renewed control, and at the border they are implementing the “Entry/Exit” system, which operates at the external borders of the EU.
Currently, only passenger cars are allowed to cross the Kuznytsia-Bruzgy border crossing, without buses, while in Bobrovnyky — both passenger cars, buses and freight transport. Even before the opening, a queue of 4-5 kilometers had formed in front of Bobrovnyky, and one of the first to cross the border was the regular bus Warsaw-Bialystok-Hrodna.
- These checkpoints were closed for security reasons: Kuznytsia was closed in November 2021 due to the migration crisis, Bobrovniki in February 2023 after the conviction of Belarusian journalist Andriy Pachobut.
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