BREST, 12 September (BelTA) – Bus passengers who were unable to enter Poland before the border closure shared their emotions with a BelTA’s correspondent.
Poland stopped accepting traffic from the Brest border checkpoint at 1:00 a.m. (Belarusian time) on 12 September. Polish security forces then stretched barbed wire and erected a metal fence at the border. Several buses and a passenger car failed to enter the Terespol border crossing on time and had to return to Brest to re-enter Belarus.
“We were stopped by the Polish authorities right at the auto barrier, had to back up all the way [to the Brest checkpoint]. It’s really frustrating. We waited for a day and a half – and still weren't allowed to enter. We had 40 minutes left, and it's unclear why they didn't let us through,” said Sergei, the driver of a scheduled bus to Cologne.
Bus passenger Margarita was visibly frustrated. “Now we’re heading back to Minsk. Then I have to go back to the city I came from. I’ll need to buy a ticket, book a hotel – all of this is a hassle. My tickets are lost,” she said, barely holding back her emotions.
Liliya and her child didn’t make it home to Germany after spending a day and a half in line waiting to enter Poland. “It’s very upsetting. In the last ten minutes, we were sure we’d get through, because we were already close to the Polish side. They checked our passports, and then, for some reason, decided not to let us in,” she said. Her family had been visiting relatives in Belarus. “We were heading home to Germany. Now we’ll go through Lithuania,” Liliya added with resignation.
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