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Belarus reserves right for more serious response after Poland closed border crossing — MFA

There are six checkpoints on the Polish-Belarusian border, but four of them don’t operate by decision of Poland

MINSK, February 17. /TASS/. Belarus reserves the right to take more serious measures in response to Poland’s closure of the Bobrovniki border crossing point but has no plans to worsen the quality of life and conditions of doing business for its own and foreign citizens, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

"We emphasize again that all measures are retaliatory in nature. Belarus, going forward, doesn’t plan to proactively impair the living or business conditions of its own or neighboring citizens," the ministry said in a statement. "However, any destructive steps by the Polish government won’t be left unanswered. In that regard, we reserve the right for more serious retaliatory measures to protect our national interests."

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said earlier that the staff of the Consulate General of Poland in the Belarusian city of Grodno should be reduced and "brought to quantitative parity" with the number of employees of the Consulate General of Belarus in the Polish city of Bialystok. Minsk also sees no point for a liaison officer of the Border Guard Service of Poland to stay in Belarus any longer.

Poland shut down the Bobrovniki checkpoint on February 10, citing security reasons.

The Foreign Ministry and the State Border Committee of Belarus stated that the inhumane decision to close Bobrovniki exacerbates the already extremely difficult situation on the Belarusian-Polish border, violates the rights of residents in Belarus, Poland and other countries, and also damages economic activity. Minsk noted that it reserves the right to take appropriate retaliatory measures, stressing that Belarus is always open to a constructive and mutually respectful dialogue.

There are six checkpoints on the Polish-Belarusian border, but four of them don’t operate by decision of Poland. The movement of freight transport to Poland is possible only through the Kozlovichi checkpoint, while passenger cars can cross the border through the Brest checkpoint.

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