Poland will completely close the border with Belarus from September 12

The main reason was the holding of large-scale Russian-Belarusian military exercises “Zapad-2025”

From September 12, 2025, Poland will completely close all land, rail and road border crossings with Belarus.

An official notification of this was sent to the Belarusian authorities on the night of September 12. The decision concerns the Brest - Terespol, Kozlovichi - Kukuryki crossings (motor transport), as well as all railway points between the countries.

The main reason for closing the border was the large-scale Russian-Belarusian military exercises “ West 2025 ”, which start on September 12 and will last until September 16.
Also, the Polish Ministry of Defense announced that they were sending 40 thousand soldiers to the Belarusian border.

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The border may not be opened immediately after the end of the exercises

Polish authorities call the closure a “measure to ensure national and regional security,” and point to recent incidents with Russian drones flying into Polish territory and a general increase in military tension in the region as additional factors.

Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kerwiński said that the border will be opened only when the authorities are completely confident that there is no threat to Polish citizens and national security. The timing of the opening of the border has not been officially specified. The decision is of an indefinite nature and will be reviewed based on the dynamics of the situation.

Long queues at the Belarusian-Polish border

Already since September 11, traffic has been stopped for vehicles crossing the border. Carriers began to cancel flights en masse, and large queues formed at Belarusian checkpoints.

In addition, Polish authorities have limited flights on the border with Belarus and Ukraine, starting on September 10. The restrictions will remain in effect until December 9, 2025.

In the restricted zone, flights of civilian drones are prohibited 24 hours a day. At night, only military aircraft can fly in this zone, and during the day, aircraft after notifying the authorities about the flight

The Belarusian side protested against Warsaw’s decision, emphasizing that the closure of the border not only interferes with the movement of citizens, but also damages economic and humanitarian contacts between the countries.

Photo: A Polish soldier patrols the Poland-Belarus border in Kuznica, Poland, November 9, 2021. Irek Dorozanski/DWOT/Handout via REUTERS

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