Vehicles stretched for roughly two kilometres at the Budzisko border crossing on Saturday, 14 February, as Poland’s spot checks coincided with Lithuania’s Restoration of State Day long-weekend traffic. Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service (VSAT) told news agency BNS that Polish officers were conducting the temporary controls introduced in mid-2025 to stem secondary irregular migration from the Baltic route.
Although traffic remained fluid, VSAT spokesman Giedrius Mišutis warned that coach inspections in particular add several minutes per vehicle, causing tailbacks when holiday volumes surge. Poland re-imposed controls on its German and Lithuanian frontiers last July and has extended them twice, most recently until 4 April 2026.
For travellers who realise that a visa or transit document might suddenly be required before entering Poland, VisaHQ can remove the guesswork. The service’s Poland page (https://www.visahq.com/poland/) lists up-to-date entry rules and can fast-track applications—handy when a spontaneous hop across the border risks being delayed by paperwork.
![Two-Kilometre Queue as Holiday Traffic and Spot Checks Slow Polish-Lithuanian Border]()
For logistics firms, the queue is a reminder to factor extra buffer time into just-in-time schedules that transit the A5/S61 Via Baltica corridor. Passenger-car drivers heading for winter resorts in Podlasie or Lithuanian shopping trips are advised to monitor live wait-time feeds published by both border forces.
The weekend congestion also underscores the political tightrope Warsaw walks: balancing Schengen free-movement principles with domestic pressure to clamp down on irregular migration routed through Belarus and the Baltic states. EU interior ministers are due to review the effectiveness of such “targeted and proportionate” internal checks at their March council meeting.
Until then, businesses should expect unannounced Polish controls—identity, vehicle and cargo—and ensure drivers carry proof of employment and, where applicable, A1 social-security certificates.
Although traffic remained fluid, VSAT spokesman Giedrius Mišutis warned that coach inspections in particular add several minutes per vehicle, causing tailbacks when holiday volumes surge. Poland re-imposed controls on its German and Lithuanian frontiers last July and has extended them twice, most recently until 4 April 2026.
For travellers who realise that a visa or transit document might suddenly be required before entering Poland, VisaHQ can remove the guesswork. The service’s Poland page (https://www.visahq.com/poland/) lists up-to-date entry rules and can fast-track applications—handy when a spontaneous hop across the border risks being delayed by paperwork.
For logistics firms, the queue is a reminder to factor extra buffer time into just-in-time schedules that transit the A5/S61 Via Baltica corridor. Passenger-car drivers heading for winter resorts in Podlasie or Lithuanian shopping trips are advised to monitor live wait-time feeds published by both border forces.
The weekend congestion also underscores the political tightrope Warsaw walks: balancing Schengen free-movement principles with domestic pressure to clamp down on irregular migration routed through Belarus and the Baltic states. EU interior ministers are due to review the effectiveness of such “targeted and proportionate” internal checks at their March council meeting.
Until then, businesses should expect unannounced Polish controls—identity, vehicle and cargo—and ensure drivers carry proof of employment and, where applicable, A1 social-security certificates.
