Poland reopens border with Belarus after two-week closure due to Russian drone incursion

Poland’s total closure of its border with Belarus, which began on 12 September, ended on Wednesday night, as checkpoints along the country’s eastern border began to reopen, Belarusian state-owned news agency BELTA reported on Thursday.

The border crossing in the western Belarusian city of Brest has been reopened to regular traffic, whereas four crossings for trains have also gone back into operation, BELTA said.

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the complete closure of the border with Belarus from 12 September due to a “growing number of provocations” after 19 Russian drones illegally entered Polish airspaceIn the early hours of 10 September.

Tensions in the region were also running high as Russia and Belarus began their Zapad 2025 joint military exercises on 12 September, the first large-scale training operation carried out by the two allies since 2021.

Prior to the exercises, Poland’s Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk said that an additional 40,000 Polish soldiers would be deployed to the country’s eastern border in response, a substantial increase from the 10,000 troops usually stationed there.

Following the drone incursion, Poland invoked Article 4 of the NATO convention, triggering a consultative meeting of the alliance’s most senior decision-making body, and temporarily restricted its airspace along the country’s border with Belarus, and requested that NATO allies help it create an “anti-drone wall” by supplying additional air defence systems.

Reacting to the initial closure, the Russian Foreign Ministry asked the Polish authorities not to go ahead with the move, saying it would affect business, while the Belarusian State Border Committee reported that queues had increased at checkpoints shortly before the complete closure was due to come into effect.