What's the situation with travel from Belarus to the EU this summer?

Illustrative photo. Photo: lookby.media

Poland

Last summer, only two border crossings were operating on the border with Poland: "Brest" for passenger traffic and "Kozlovichi" for cargo.

Last year at "Brest," starting from June 5th, it was a real nightmare. There were consistently between 1300 and 2000 passenger cars in the exit queue.

Павялічыць

Queues on 16.06.2025 and 16.06.2026 for exiting Belarus to Poland via BC "Brest". Screenshot: gpk.gov.by

People who had the right to priority passage earned well from the huge queue — they charged between 100 and 200 dollars or euros for their services, depending on the queue.

The situation with buses was no less tense, with about 40-50 of them in the exit queue.

What about now?

This summer, the situation at "Brest" looks much less tense. Throughout June 16th, there were between 200 and 400 passenger cars, which is several times less than last year. Moreover, by around 10 AM on June 17th, the queue of passenger cars had dispersed.

The situation with buses is similar. While a year ago there were about 40-50 of them, now there are 25-40, and on June 17th, only about 10.

What about the timing?

On the night of June 16th, a bus crossed the Belarusian-Polish border at BC "Brest" for almost nine hours. On the night of the 17th, crossing the border by bus took about seven hours.

A bus that left Minsk at 8 PM crossed the border at 12 PM (noon) the next day.

Павялічыць

Illustrative photo. Photo: granica_bypl / Telegram

At the same time, a bus that left Minsk at 5 PM but traveled via "Berestovitsa" crossed the border eight hours after arriving at the crossing point.

Later, travelers who went from Grodno to Warsaw via "Berestovitsa" reported that they crossed the border by bus at night within five hours.

On the night of June 17th and later, it is reported that border crossing takes about seven hours.

As for the bus queue, unlike "Brest," there is almost never one at "Berestovitsa," so many Minsk residents try to buy tickets for routes specifically via "Berestovitsa."

At "Bruzgi," traffic is open only for passenger cars, so buses, like trucks, do not currently pass through there.

Queues of passenger cars at "Bruzgi" and "Berestovitsa" are sometimes observed this summer.

Павялічыць

Screenshot: gpk.gov.by

For example, in the first half of the day on June 17th, about two to three dozen passenger cars were waiting in the queue to exit Belarus to Poland at "Bruzgi".

Lithuania

People who crossed the border by bus via "Kamenny Log" on June 17th report that everything was quite fast. The night bus reached Vilnius from Minsk in five and a half hours, and the morning one in five, even considering the additional bus check on the Lithuanian side.

But this is not the fastest case. A bus that left Minsk on June 16th at 7:30 PM brought passengers to Vilnius in 4 hours 35 minutes. It turns out that in recent days, travel from Minsk to Vilnius takes 4.5-6.5 hours.

There are no bus queues at "Benyakoni" either. A bus that left Grodno at 2:50 AM was already in Vilnius at 8:20 AM. The border crossing itself from both sides took 2 hours 10 minutes.

Павялічыць

Illustrative photo. Photo: lookby.media

A night bus from Minsk, which also traveled via "Benyakoni," crossed the border in two hours. The journey from Minsk to Vilnius thus took almost six hours.

On the night of June 16th, one of the buses crossed both borders in just 1 hour 45 minutes.

As for passenger cars, a queue of 80-120 cars at "Kamenny Log" is not so rare, but at "Benyakoni" there is most often no queue, or it consists of several dozen cars.

Latvia

At the border with Latvia, at the only active crossing point "Grigorovshchina," there are no queues for any type of transport. Besides the fact that Latvia itself traditionally enjoyed the least demand among Belarusians, this country introduced numerous restrictions that are not present in either Poland or Lithuania, so traffic there is minimal.

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