Border collapse: Queue of 300 cars on Polish-Belarusian border

Visa-free regime, opened by Belarus to the residents of the neighboring countries, scared the Lithuanian and Polish officials to such an extent that they decided to create border collapse, artificially restraining the flow of cars in both directions.

For example, there is a queue of 300 cars at the Belarusian-Polish border, at the checkpoints "Brest" and "Berestovitsa". Only some 400 cars can cross the border during day, although the capacity of the border crossing is 1,700 cars in 24 hours.

The slowness of Polish border guards is a kind of Italian strike. If European tourists tend to Belarus, where there is plenty of fuel and prices are affordable, not to mention food, they try to spoil their mood by the intolerable border crossing. People leaving Belarus are also held for hours in tedious, but most importantly, meaningless procedures and waiting for the unknown. A queue for the sake of a queue.

Nikolai Kabanov, head of the customs post "Warsaw Bridge:

“On Saturday, August 20, our Polish colleagues did not accept vehicles at all. At the same time there were periods when 50-70 cars were passing in just one hour. This irregularity causes problems with the departure of vehicles from the territory of the Republic of Belarus, which we have now. At the moment, there are no queues to enter Belarus. So, during the last day, more than 700 vehicles have been accepted for the entry, including 60 buses for the transportation of passengers.”

The Polish side fulfilled the daily norm of passing the cars by only a third, but has also cancelled the possibility for Belarusians to return the value added tax when buying goods. Here they went even further than their Lithuanian authorities, who openly intimidate their own population, who are going to travel to Belarus for shopping. They can just turn the car around, make an in-depth inspection, and even fine you.

They Lithuanians authorities claim that tourists from the EU can expect trouble in Belarus in the form of lack of security and the presence of KGB. And the purchase of Belarusian goods is support for the regime.

However, despite such information bombardment, people from both Lithuania and Poland go to Belarus. However, the "Italian strike" of the border services of these countries is rather an admission of their complete helplessness.