Belarus said it had abolished visa requirements for Polish nationals in a bid to foster “good neighborly” relations.
The decision to introduce a “temporary visa-free entry regime” for six months came from President Alexander Lukashenko, according to the National Committee of Border Guards of Belarus.
This measure will be in effect from July 1 to December 31, the commission added.
Polish citizens will now also be able to travel to Belarusian border areas without special permission. Instead, citizens will have to verbally explain why they are in the area and where they intend to go, a statement said.
Lukashenko has already allowed Lithuanian and Latvian citizens to travel to Belarus without a visa until the end of the year.
The surprise announcement comes amid heightened tensions between Belarus and the European Union over Minsk’s support for Russia during the war in Ukraine.
The EU has also accused Belarus of facilitating illegal migration in an attempt to destabilize the bloc. Lukashenko denied the allegations.
On Thursday, Poland accused Belarusian authorities of failing to tackle the vandalism of Polish graves and war memorials.
Many Polish soldiers are buried in western Belarus, a region that belonged to Poland before World War II.
“We strongly condemn the fact that local authorities have created an atmosphere of acquiescence to such practices,” Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Łukasz Jasina said in a statement.
“We call on the Belarusian authorities to immediately put an end to acts of vandalism in cemeteries and to reveal and account for the perpetrators. Poland strongly demands respect for graves and memorialization of the deceased,” he added.
euronews Gt