Poland to reopen border with Belarus after nearly two-week closure, PM Tusk says

Poland will reopen its border with Belarus at midnight on Thursday morning, ending a nearly two-week closure, according to Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

The Polish government closed all its border crossings with Belarus on 12 September in response to the large-scale military exercises conducted by the Belarusian and Russian forces, known as Zapad 2025.

The war games followed an unprecedented incursion of Russian drones into Polish airspace, putting NATO allies on high alert that Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine could spill over into other countries.

"The conclusion of these exercises reduces — although I can't say eliminates — various threats, and taking into account the economic interests of Polish carriers and railways, we concluded that this measure has served its purpose," Tusk told the government on Tuesday.

However, if tensions increase, he said "we will not hesitate and we will make appropriate decisions."

Poland's PM said the interior minister would issue a regulation to reopen road and rail crossings with Belarus.

Last week, the European Commission said it was monitoring the possible economic impact caused by the border closure, which has effectively shut down a railway trade route between the bloc and China.

The railway closure reportedly affects an annual €25 billion in goods between the EU and China.

The figure represents a tiny fraction of the €732 billion in goods exchanged between the two sides in 2024, mostly by sea.

Poland has massively restricted road traffic with Belarus since the summer of 2021, having accused Minsk of pushing migrants over its border.

That has prompted Warsaw to install high-tech steel fences, deploy the army and create a no-go buffer zone.