Travellers attempting to drive from Belarus into Poland via the Brest–Terespol corridor on 16 October faced wait times of up to ten hours and a line stretching to 415 cars, according to independent broadcaster Belsat. Eleven international coaches were also in the queue, with passengers complaining of repeated document checks by Belarusian transport inspectors before they even reached Polish passport control. While the adjacent Lithuanian crossings remained virtually empty, traffic funnelled into Brest following the temporary closure of several smaller Belarus–Poland posts earlier in the week. Logistics operators report that late-evening dispatch slots are now selling on informal messaging apps for up to €80 per truck, raising concerns about corruption and shipment integrity. The congestion has immediate implications for just-in-time supply chains linking Polish factories with Belarusian component suppliers, especially in the auto-parts and electronics sectors concentrated around Białystok and Lublin. Humanitarian NGOs also warn that prolonged queues expose travellers to falling night-time temperatures with limited access to food or sanitary facilities. Polish customs has urged drivers headed for Poland to monitor the granica.gov.pl queue tracker and consider alternative crossings via Lithuania or the Koroszczyn/Kukuryki freight terminal, though capacity there is already under strain. Longer-term, experts argue that streamlining joint border procedures—such as shared control zones or electronic pre-clearance—could cut processing times by 30 %. The issue is likely to feature at next month’s Polish-Belarusian customs working group in Warsaw.
Source: Belsat
