Poland enforces extended border controls with Germany, Lithuania

Warsaw, Oct 5 (IANS) Poland has extended temporary border control measures with Germany and Lithuania for another six months, with the regulation taking effect on Sunday and remaining in force until April 4 next year.

According to Polish media reports, the decree was signed by Polish Minister of the Interior and Administration Marcin Kierwinski on Wednesday.

Poland introduced the temporary border controls on July 7 at its western border with Germany and northeastern border with Lithuania, later extending them to October 4. Checks are currently conducted at 50 points along the Polish-German border and 13 along the Polish-Lithuanian border, according to the Polish Press Agency.

Speaking at a press conference after the Munich Migration Meeting on Saturday, Kierwinski said Poland is unwilling to agree to any regulations on relocating migrants within the European Union, Xinhua News Agency reported.

He added that Poland has already paid a heavy price for guarding the bloc's external border, with nearly 25,000 illegal crossings recorded on the border with Belarus so far this year.

Earlier in September, Poland reopened its border with Belarus at midnight on Thursday, nearly two weeks after closing it ahead of Russian-Belarusian military exercises, local media reported.

Three freight rail crossings, Terespol-Brest, Kuznica-Grodno, and Siemianowka-Svisloch, was reopened for cargo trains. In addition, the Terespol-Brest crossing is now open to passenger vehicles, and the Kukuryki-Kozlowicze crossing resumed service for trucks, according to the reports.

Poland closed all border crossings with Belarus at midnight on September 12, in response to the joint Russian-Belarusian military exercise "Zapad-2025", which took place from September 12-16.

When Poland decided to close the border with Belarus, Marcin Kierwinski, minister of the Polish Ministry of the Interior and Administration, had said that border traffic will be resumed only when the government is convinced that "the safety of Polish citizens is fully guaranteed."

--IANS

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