The Minister of Interior and Administration, Marcin Kierwiński, announced on Tuesday that he signed a regulation to restore traffic at the border crossings with Belarus. Prime Minister Donald Tusk emphasized that the border will be opened at midnight from Wednesday to Thursday (24/25 September).
I have just signed a regulation that will restore traffic at Poland’s border crossings with Belarus tomorrow at midnight.
— Marcin Kierwiński (@MKierwinski) September 23, 2025
The Zapad 2025 exercises have ended, reducing the threats posed by the aggressive stance of Poland’s eastern neighbours. Considering the economic interests of Polish transporters, we have decided that the preventive measure has fulfilled its purpose – said Tusk.
🚧 Border with Belarus open from midnight, September 25th!
Minister @MKierwinski signed a regulation restoring border traffic with Belarus. The decision covers both rail and road crossings, previously closed due to Russian-Belarusian manoeuvres…
— MSWiA 🇵🇱 (@MSWiA_GOV_PL) September 24, 2025
At the same time, it was noted that the government holds the option to re-close the crossings should the security situation deteriorate.
Transporters trapped: costs running into millions
The closure of the border on 12 September due to the Zapad-25 military exercises resulted in about 1,300 Polish lorries and buses stranded in Belarus, causing significant disruptions in the transport sector. The Ministry of Infrastructure declared its readiness to support drivers, maintaining constant contact with the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Border Guard, Customs Service, and transport organizations. Meanwhile, entrepreneurs warned of enormous losses – one idle truck means 350 euros in daily losses, and a refrigerator lorry even 1,000 euros – noted Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Krzysztof Bosak. Furthermore, Rafał Mekler, President of the Committee for the Defence of Transporters and Employers, estimated that the total value of the trapped vehicles and goods reaches approximately 200 million PLN.
IRU: ‘bittersweet success’
The government’s decision was also responded to by the International Road Transport Union. IRU President Jan Buczek emphasized that the industry has been warning from the beginning about the effects of the border closure.
We are pleased with Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s decision to reopen the border with Belarus. As we can see, our pressure has produced the expected result. From the moment of closure, we have been intervening with representatives of the highest authorities, pointing out the catastrophic outcomes of this decision. There was a lack of emergency procedures related to the recovery of our lorries and drivers, trapped on the Belarusian side – noted Buczek.
At the same time, he assessed that the reopening is a ‘bittersweet success.’ – After the border closure, our clients were taken over by competitors from Central-Eastern Europe, whose governments focus on developing their transporters. This is a painful lesson for Poland and the industry – he added.
The IRU President pointed out that in Poland, there is a long-standing lack of tradition for dialogue between policymakers and the transport industry.
We hope that in the future, decisions of this magnitude will be made with appropriate advance planning and in consultation with transporters to avoid chaos and enormous losses. This is a lesson for authorities for the future – concluded Buczek.
Opportunity for normalisation
The restoration of border traffic is a relief for the TSL sector, which has been struggling with logistical paralysis and uncertainty over the past two weeks. Reopening the crossings will allow the return of trapped vehicles and enable transporters to gradually resume services to the east.
At the same time, the government announced that the tool of border closures will remain active for use in crisis situations. For transport companies, this means the necessity to consider the increasing political and geopolitical risks in their operations on eastern markets. EU Commission clears DHL–Evri merger under simplified procedure and Michelin launches truck-specific GPS across Europe.
