Poland refuses entry to 13 travellers at Lithuanian border as temporary checks tighten

Poland’s temporary internal-Schengen border controls at the frontier with Lithuania led to 13 travellers being turned away over the weekend of 20–21 September. According to the Podlaski Border Guard, officers at the Rutka-Tartak and Sejny crossings denied entry to nationals of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Morocco, Tajikistan and Nepal who lacked the documents required for legal stay in the Schengen Area. The refusals are part of a control regime first introduced on 7 July 2025 amid heightened migration pressure along the so-called Baltic route. Under the current government order, the controls – which turn the normally open internal EU border into a formally policed boundary – remain in force until 1 October 2026, covering 13 designated crossings. Although the numbers turned back are modest compared with the more than 780 refusals recorded at the same border so far this year, the incident underscores that Polish authorities are maintaining a zero-tolerance stance toward documentation gaps. Travellers arriving as tourists or on business who cannot demonstrate means of subsistence, valid Schengen visas or residence permits risk being refused entry even if they hold biometric passports that usually allow short-stay visits. For corporate mobility managers the take-away is clear: employees transiting through Lithuania into Poland for projects or meetings must travel with passports, visas or residence cards in physical form and have proof of accommodation and health insurance on hand. Transport companies should also factor extra time into itineraries in case of random vehicle checks, which have become more common since the controls were re-introduced. The Lithuanian–Polish corridor is a key road freight route linking the Baltic ports with Central Europe; any reinstatement or extension of internal checks therefore has an outsized impact on just-in-time supply chains. Firms with regular cross-border traffic should continue to monitor government communiqués for possible extensions beyond the 1 October deadline.