BREST, 25 September (BelTA) - The Polish authorities understood that they had made a mistake by closing the border with Belarus, former Polish judge Tomasz Szmydt told the media after Poland reopened the border with Belarus, BelTA has learned.
“I am very glad that the border has been opened. The Polish authorities understood that they had made a mistake. Let's see how the situation develops further. People in Poland are tired of the closed borders with Belarus, including all the crossings in the Podlasie and Bialystok regions. Many businesses have simply collapsed due to such decisions by the Polish authorities," Tomasz Szmydt said.
“President Aleksandr Lukashenko, in an attempt to avoid alarming the Polish authorities, decided to hold the exercise [Zapad 2025] in central Belarus. However, this did not help. From the perspective of diplomatic relations between countries, this border closure was simply ridiculous,” he added.
Tomasz Szmydt stressed that one of the members of the European Parliament wanted to come and see what was happening at the border. It is possible that the Polish authorities were also informed about this. For them, it would not be very helpful if someone else witnessed the situation firsthand.
“I am very glad that the border has been opened. The Polish authorities understood that they had made a mistake. Let's see how the situation develops further. People in Poland are tired of the closed borders with Belarus, including all the crossings in the Podlasie and Bialystok regions. Many businesses have simply collapsed due to such decisions by the Polish authorities," Tomasz Szmydt said.
According to him, the border closure had a negative economic impact on Poland, as it is a key railway route between China and the European Union. Furthermore, China will now be assessing how much it can trust the Polish authorities. “To be honest, this decision wasn’t the smartest one,” Tomasz Szmydt emphasized, noting that if the restrictions had continued, China could have withdrawn from cooperation with Poland, which would have benefited the port of Hamburg and Germany as a whole.
“President Aleksandr Lukashenko, in an attempt to avoid alarming the Polish authorities, decided to hold the exercise [Zapad 2025] in central Belarus. However, this did not help. From the perspective of diplomatic relations between countries, this border closure was simply ridiculous,” he added.
Tomasz Szmydt stressed that one of the members of the European Parliament wanted to come and see what was happening at the border. It is possible that the Polish authorities were also informed about this. For them, it would not be very helpful if someone else witnessed the situation firsthand.
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