Olha Hembik | 2025-09-18

WARSAW -- A trip once as ordinary as crossing the border for shopping or family visits now comes with a stark warning: Poles should stay out of Belarus or risk not coming back.

Poland's Foreign Ministry has urged citizens to avoid travel and leave the country if possible, citing "rising tensions, ongoing military actions in the region and recurring arrests of Polish nationals."

The warning follows the Zapad-2025 exercises, a massive display of force that brought thousands of Russian and Belarusian troops into Belarus earlier this month.

"Belarus is an undemocratic country, and it is not friendly to Poland. I hope these warnings are taken completely seriously," ministry spokesperson Paweł Wroński told RMF24 on September 5.

Espionage allegations

Just before the ministry's warning, the Order of Carmelites confirmed the arrest of one of its members, 27-year-old Grzegorz Gawel of Krakow, the Polish Press Agency reported.

Belarusian authorities said Gawel was detained in the city of Lepel in the Vitebsk region on accusations of collecting information about the Zapad-2025 exercises.

The Belarusian outlet News.by reported he allegedly contacted a local citizen online on behalf of Polish intelligence, offering small gifts and monthly payments. Authorities claimed he received a classified document minutes before his arrest on September 4.

Belarus said Gawel forwarded the material to Poland's Internal Security Agency (ABW), opening a criminal case under its espionage laws.

Polish officials dismissed the charges. Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the arrest "foolishness" and said Gawel was only visiting a priest friend.

ABW spokesperson Jacek Dobrzyński rejected claims the agency used monks for intelligence, calling it a provocation by the regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

"You have to wonder how a person who apparently doesn't speak Russian was able to read documents, assess their value and then recruit Belarusians," Anna Maria Dyner, who works at the Polish Institute of International Affairs, wrote on her X account.

Poland is weighing diplomatic and retaliatory steps in response.

Pawn in another's game

Patryk Jaracz, a Polish photographer documenting the war in Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion, traveled to Belarus in 2020 to photograph protests sparked by rigged elections.

Shortly after his arrival, Belarusian security forces arrested him. Jaracz endured imprisonment and torture at the hands of OMON riot police. He quickly realized that traveling to Belarus posed significant risks for Poles, Europeans and others.

"I feared becoming a political prisoner -- a pawn in someone else's game, held for years as a bargaining chip," Jaracz told Kontur. He described sleeping in a filthy, overcrowded cell, lulled to sleep by the screams of tortured prisoners.

After 85 hours in captivity, he received his first meal: a serving of porridge and a piece of bread.

"I was relatively lucky because I was beaten no more or less than others," Jaracz said. "But some male prisoners were raped, for example."

Since his ordeal in Belarus, Jaracz has made it his mission to use photography to help people share their traumatic experiences.

Piotr Kulpa, a former Polish deputy minister of labor and social policy, described Belarus as a country where citizens and visitors live under the constant threat of a criminal regime.

"In many ways, this regime is far more terrifying than Russia's," Kulpa told Kontur. He noted that the Belarusian parliament in exile considers the country "completely occupied" by Russia, which used Belarusian territory to launch its invasion of Ukraine, reducing Belarus to a Kremlin proxy.

Oleksandr Antoniuk, a political consultant serving in the Ukrainian military, highlighted Poland's experience countering Kremlin-orchestrated operations, such as the orchestrated influx of undocumented migrants from the Middle East and Africa, which he described as "Belarusian pressure on Poland through the border zone."

On May 12, 2025, the Polish government shut down the Russian consulate in Krakow as part of an initial crackdown on Russian influence, a move driven by national security concerns and diplomatic strategy.

Antoniuk predicted that Poland would respond with further measures, stating, "We'll likely see reciprocal summons of diplomats, restricted visits, and possibly expanded sectoral sanctions against Belarusian entities."

He said contacts may be frozen and border security tightened with stricter procedures.

On September 12, Poland shut its border with Belarus as Russian and Belarusian troops launched the Zapad-2025 exercises. Although the drills ended September 16, Warsaw says the border will remain closed indefinitely.

"Temporarily closing the border is a signal to Russia to behave," Kulpa said, describing the move as "primarily leverage."

He referenced Poland's response to Russian security services-orchestrated arson attacks and provocations, which led to the closure of two Russian consulates in Poznań and Krakow.

"Poland will likely urge its European partners to follow suit," he added.