What happened at the border? Are the Poles acting up? Lukashenko received a report from the Chairman of the State Customs Committee
September 15, 2025
"So what happened at your border? They say you don't want to let vehicles through. I don't know, either way. Queues have formed. What's going on, are the Poles acting up? A professional assessment. Not political, but professional. What is happening with them? That's the first question. I want to be briefed on the situation at the border from the customs perspective," the head of state said.
The second issue he raised concerned law enforcement activities. "It seems they (a number of neighboring countries. - BELTA note) are not cooperating with us, but they are still causing quite a bit of trouble. And drugs, explosives, and other things are being moved across the border," the President stated.
He noted that there had recently been instances of drug seizures, as well as explosives. The latter, it is claimed, were intended for subsequent transit to Russia. "Nevertheless. Russia is not a foreign state to us," Alexander Lukashenko remarked.
Thirdly, he inquired about innovations in the activities of customs authorities from the Chairman of the State Customs Committee: "How are we using digitalization, perhaps artificial intelligence, to work more effectively at the border?".
"And the perspective. How do you see, given the current situation, what is the perspective? As a professional (assessment. - BELTA note)," the head of state added.
As BELTA was informed by the State Customs Committee, in January-August 2025, customs authorities seized over 1.1 tons of drugs, as well as over 7.7 thousand units of medicinal products containing psychotropic substances. In July, a major channel for importing psychotropic substances from Latvia with a total mass of over 637 kg was intercepted. During further international controlled delivery, colleagues from Russia discovered an additional 162 kg of drugs and psychotropics in the Moscow region. The total amount of seized substances was about 800 kg. Citizens of Belarus, Lithuania, Russia, and Ukraine involved in organizing the criminal activity were detained.
In April, at the "Brest" border crossing point, customs authorities prevented the attempted import of a powerful NATO-made explosive substance weighing over 580 kg from Poland, concealed within the cavities of a minivan. It is noted that 150 g of this explosive is sufficient to completely destroy the vehicle. Previously, customs authorities had not detected this type of explosive substance. In this regard, control measures for the import of prohibited substances have been strengthened.
Regarding border queues, the situation remains complex due to the deliberate actions of neighboring countries, as noted by the State Customs Committee (SCC). The SCC is taking measures to create conditions for citizens awaiting border crossing. The option of remote registration in the electronic queue has been provided, as well as arrival upon notification at the border crossing point without mandatory entry into the waiting area. To ensure comfortable border crossing, work continues on the construction and improvement of waiting areas near border crossing points.