Mariusz Kamiński, Minister of the Interior and Administration in Poland, issued a regulation that suspends freight traffic on the border with Belarus for vehicles registered in Belarus and Russia, according to Polska Agencja Prasowa. It applies to trucks, tractors, trailers, semi-trailers and vehicle combinations.
Kamiński signed and published the regulation on Monday in the Journal of Laws after he added 365 representatives of the Belarusian regime, 20 entities and 16 entrepreneurs, most of which are linked to the Russian capital, to the sanctions list. He announced his decision on Friday, following the Belarusian Supreme Court’s confirmation of the eight-year sentence for Andrzej Poczobut, a Polish minority activist, in a maximum security prison.
Kamiński ordered the services to prepare applications for sanctions against the Belarusian regime in February, right after Poczobut’s conviction by the lower court. Two days later, Poland closed the road border crossing with Belarus in Bobrowniki until further notice. The minister said the passage would remain closed as long as Poczobut was in prison.
After Poland closed the border crossing in Bobrowniki on 18 February, the Belarusian regime imposed restrictions that prevented Polish carriers from using border crossings on the section between Belarus and Lithuania and Latvia. Their vehicles could pass through the Kukuryki – Kozłowicze border crossing with the terminal in Koroszczyn, the only open Polish – Belarusian road freight crossing currently. In response, Poland limited the passage through Kukuryki. Freight traffic is only available to vehicles registered in the European Union member states, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. However, vehicles registered in other countries, including Belarus, could still tow semi-trailers registered in Poland. The regulation published on Monday will stop this possibility.