Poland border crossing closure 'catastrophic': Belarus

Belarus on Friday condemned as "catastrophic" a decision by Poland to close a border checkpoint between the two countries, saying it could lead to a collapse on both sides of the border.

Poland said on Thursday, citing security concerns, it would close a key border crossing into Belarus at Bobrowniki, starting at 12 pm (1100 GMT) on Friday, driving already hostile relations between the two countries to a new low.

Poland has been a key refuge for opponents of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and Warsaw has become one of Kyiv's staunchest supporters since Belarus' main ally Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

The Belarus government criticised the border decision on Thursday, but went further in a statement on Friday, calling the move irrational and dangerous.

"The actions of the Polish authorities could lead to a collapse on both sides of the border," the country's border committee said in a statement shared on social media.

After the closure comes into force, only two of six major land crossing points along the two countries' 400 km (250-mile) border will be open, the border force said.

"With the closure of another Polish checkpoint, the situation will become catastrophic," it added, pointing to existing long lines at border crossings. "The load on the remaining two checkpoints will critically increase."

Minsk also said it believed the decision was purposefully designed to "further aggravate the situation at the border and limit citizens' travel".

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that Poland might close further border crossings.

"We are not excluding closing other border crossings with Belarus," he told a news conference in Brussels. "The reason for this is that there are growing tensions with Belarus and they are being instrumentalised by the Russians and the Kremlin."

Relations were further strained on Wednesday when a Belarusian court sentenced a journalist of Polish origin to eight years in prison in a trial Warsaw said was politically motivated.

Thousands of people of Polish origin live in Belarus given that the west of the country was Polish territory until borders were redrawn after World War Two.