MINSK, March 1. /TASS/. Polish citizens will be able to enter Belarus without visas through all checkpoints on the EU border, the Belarusian State Border Committee announced Wednesday.
"Considering the high demand for the Belarusian ‘visa-free regime,’ the leadership of the republic decided to authorize visa-free entry for Polish nationals through all Belarusian checkpoints on the EU border," the Committee said.
The new regime will remain in effect starting on March 2 and until December 31, 2023.
"Previously, Polish nationals were able to enter Belarus without a vise only on the Polish-Belarusian swath of the border," the Committee noted.
On December 21, 2022, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko endorsed the offer of the Council of Ministers and the Foreign Ministry to prolong the visa-free regime for Polish, Lithuanian and Latvian nationals for 2023. Initially, such entry regime was declared for nationals of Lithuania and Latvia until May 15, 2022, but was later extended to cover Polish nationals as well, and was prolonged until the end of last year. Currently, citizens of Latvia and Lithuania are able to enter only via checkpoints on Belarusian-Latvian and Belarusian-Lithuanian parts of the border, correspondingly.
On February 10, Polish shut down the Bobrowniki checkpoint. In response, Belarus restricted entry for trucks, registered in Poland, only allowing it to enter through the Polish-Belarusian part of the border. On February 21, Poland banned movement of cargo transport through the Kukuryki checkpoint (with exception for transport, registered in the EU and in European Free Trade Association). The Terespol/Brest checkpoint, which serves passenger transport, is currently the only checkpoint that operates without restrictions.
On February 13, the State Border Committee of Belarus reported that the number of Polish nationals visiting Belarus under the visa-free regime has not decreased after Warsaw shut down the Bobrowniki checkpoint.