June 26, Pozirk. Belarusian hybrid attacks at the Polish border affect trade, obstructing China’s Belt and Road initiative, Polish President Andrzej Duda has said after meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in an apparent reference to the ongoing migration crisis.
Direct rail routes connecting China’s major Chengdu rail hub with Poland run through Ukraine and Belarus yet only the Belarusian route is operational because Russia’s war on Ukraine has rendered the other one unusable, he noted.
Currently, cargo traffic between Belarus and Poland is handled only by the checkpoint in Kukuryki, with others being closed until further notice.
The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border started in spring 2021 after Alaksandar Łukašenka, angered by EU sanctions, had indicated that Minsk would not prevent migrants from Africa and Asia from using Belarus as a route to the EU.
Since the start of 2024, the European Union has thwarted at least 22,642 illegal border crossings on its shared border with Belarus, with 19,882 attempts via Poland alone.
This spring, Polish border guards recorded over 50 attacks by people trying to cross the border illegally. One of them resulted in the death of Polish serviceman Mateusz Sitek, stabbed at the border with Belarus.
Last week, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said Warsaw was considering closing all border crossings in response to the surge in illegal migration via Belarus.
A few days later, his Belarusian counterpart Siarhiej Alejnik announced that Belarus was willing to discuss border security with Poland “on equal and mutually respectful terms.”
