Poland scares Belarus with trade measures – media reports

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has held close government meetings to discuss how to deal with the new in-depth checks on goods which Poland has introduced as a measure to slow down the flow of goods from Belarus, Polish media report.

With the new measure, Warsaw aims to hit Belarus’ finances and curb the smuggling of goods entering the country through its largest railway crossing, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna (DGP) reports.

Each consignment of goods entering Poland will be subjected to a detailed check, which will slow the flow of goods from Belarus and may expose many abuses, the daily reported on Wednesday.

However, the measure does not appear to have gone unnoticed by the Belarusian government.

“According to our knowledge, Lukashenko held two closed (government) meetings and one Security Council meeting” on the issue, former Belarusian ambassador to Poland and now opposition activist Pavel Latushka told DGP.

He added that if Lithuania and Latvia followed suit, the result would be to block the flow of goods between Belarus and the EU, with serious economic consequences that Lukashenko is aware of.

To make matters worse for Minsk, China is pressuring the Belarusian government because controls on the Polish-Belarusian border would slow the flow of goods from the Far East to the EU.

According to Latushka, Beijing has twice asked Lukashenko to explain what is happening on the Polish border.

Border controls would also mean big losses for Lukashenko himself, who “has created a state-protected tobacco and alcohol smuggling business worth tens of millions of euros that goes straight into his pocket,” the former diplomat explained.

Lukashenko remains firm on migration

Poland has faced serious migrant pressure on its eastern border since 2021, which both Warsaw and Brussels see as an element of hybrid activities by Minsk and the Kremlin.

Last week, Poland and the Baltic states called for the creation of a new defence line on the EU’s eastern flank to counter threats, including hybrid ones, from Belarus and Russia. However, EU leaders remain divided over whether such projects should be funded by the EU, with Berlin and The Hague opposing the idea of using Eurobonds to finance the bloc’s defence initiatives.

China has officially suggested that Warsaw and Minsk try to resolve the migration issue through bilateral talks, which is unlikely given the chill in relations between the two countries.

On Tuesday, Lukashenko announced that he would not back down and would keep migrants away from the EU border.

“I have no intention of ordering border guards and other civilians to protect the European Union on the border of Belarus and Poland,” he said, as quoted by Russian broadcaster NTV.

“You have put a noose (of sanctions) around our necks, and you are still forcing us to protect you from these poor guys,” he said, addressing the European Union.

Brussels began imposing sanctions on Minsk after the government brutally suppressed protests against the 2020 elections, which independent observers said were rigged, and arrested scores of prominent opposition figures.

Before the sanctions, Belarus and the EU used to cooperate in the fight against irregular migration, but the situation has changed, Lukashenko said, adding that his government’s duty was to protect the Belarusian people.

Meanwhile, the sanctions seem to be working, the DGP reported, noting that Lukashenko recently announced a kind of partial amnesty.

He said he would release some prisoners in the worst health, mostly those with cancer.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)

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