In a landmark move for cross-border mobility, Poland’s Ministry of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA) has confirmed that the Kuźnica (passenger traffic) and Bobrowniki (cargo traffic) road checkpoints on the Polish-Belarusian frontier will reopen on Monday, 17 November 2025. The announcement, published in Friday’s Journal of Laws and echoed by the state press agency PAP, ends more than four years of complete road-traffic suspension at these locations. The Kuźnica post was shut in November 2021 amid violent migrant clashes allegedly orchestrated by Belarusian security services, while Bobrowniki was closed in February 2023 in protest at the sentencing of Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński argue that a 98 percent “seal rate” on irregular crossings now allows Warsaw to test a controlled reopening. Border Guard units have upgraded fencing, cameras and the new EU Entry/Exit System (EES) to capture biometrics for all third-country nationals. Only EU, EFTA and Swiss-registered vehicles will initially be permitted at Bobrowniki, and buses are excluded from Kuźnica to keep passenger flows manageable.
![Poland to Re-open Kuźnica and Bobrowniki Road Crossings with Belarus after Four-Year Closure]()
The decision follows months of lobbying by Podlaskie entrepreneurs, city mayors and logistics firms who say the border shutdown choked regional trade, tourism and retail. A March 2025 protest in Białystok labelled the closure “the funeral of the local economy”, citing double-digit unemployment and empty shops. Reopening is therefore expected to revive haulage routes to Minsk, restore shopping trips by Belarusian consumers and shorten detours that forced Polish carriers through Lithuania.
Security experts caution, however, that Minsk could again weaponise migration. Poland retains the legal power—granted under its contested 2025 “instrumentalisation” law—to suspend asylum processing and re-close the border for up to 60 days if hybrid threats re-emerge. Border Guard commander Brigadier General Sławomir Klekotka stressed that officers are trained to switch back to a hard closure “within hours” should daily illegal-entry attempts exceed current averages of 20–40.
For global mobility managers the reopening offers immediate efficiencies: shorter transit times for EU-Belarus freight, a potential easing of permit bottlenecks for drivers, and a signal that Poland sees economic interests alongside security. Yet companies should review contingency plans—particularly for December holiday traffic—and brief staff on new documentation rules under EES, as biometric capture could lengthen initial processing by several minutes per traveller.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński argue that a 98 percent “seal rate” on irregular crossings now allows Warsaw to test a controlled reopening. Border Guard units have upgraded fencing, cameras and the new EU Entry/Exit System (EES) to capture biometrics for all third-country nationals. Only EU, EFTA and Swiss-registered vehicles will initially be permitted at Bobrowniki, and buses are excluded from Kuźnica to keep passenger flows manageable.
The decision follows months of lobbying by Podlaskie entrepreneurs, city mayors and logistics firms who say the border shutdown choked regional trade, tourism and retail. A March 2025 protest in Białystok labelled the closure “the funeral of the local economy”, citing double-digit unemployment and empty shops. Reopening is therefore expected to revive haulage routes to Minsk, restore shopping trips by Belarusian consumers and shorten detours that forced Polish carriers through Lithuania.
Security experts caution, however, that Minsk could again weaponise migration. Poland retains the legal power—granted under its contested 2025 “instrumentalisation” law—to suspend asylum processing and re-close the border for up to 60 days if hybrid threats re-emerge. Border Guard commander Brigadier General Sławomir Klekotka stressed that officers are trained to switch back to a hard closure “within hours” should daily illegal-entry attempts exceed current averages of 20–40.
For global mobility managers the reopening offers immediate efficiencies: shorter transit times for EU-Belarus freight, a potential easing of permit bottlenecks for drivers, and a signal that Poland sees economic interests alongside security. Yet companies should review contingency plans—particularly for December holiday traffic—and brief staff on new documentation rules under EES, as biometric capture could lengthen initial processing by several minutes per traveller.
