Minsk has violated norms accepted even by dictators when it blocked entry for diplomatic mail from Lithuania, European Commission's Executive Vice President for the European Green Deal Frans Timmermans said in Vilnius on Friday.
"The regime in Belarus is becoming more and more rogue almost by the day, even the most fundamental diplomatic norms, accepted by dictators all over the world, [are now] not being respected by Belarus," he told reporters.
"The only answer to that is firmness – we need to be firm with Belarus, we need to be clear on the sanctions, we need to show them that in Europe this behaviour is clearly unacceptable," he added.
Timmermans also underlined that the European Commission "is in full solidarity with Lithuania, the Lithuanian government", adding that he's in contact with European Commissioner Ylva Johansson, in charge of migration issues.
Read more: Lithuanian PM in Brussels calls for more support in guarding borders
"We will support Lithuania all the way," the European commissioner said.
Lithuania's Foreign Ministry reported earlier in the day that Belarus had stopped a Lithuanian vehicle carrying diplomatic mail in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
At the Medininkai border crossing point, Belarusian officials demanded that diplomatic seals be removed and the car opened. When Lithuanian diplomatic couriers refused, they were forced to turn back to Lithuania, the ministry said.
After the incident, a representative of the Belarusian Embassy was urgently summoned to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry and handed a protest note.
Read more: Belarus detains Lithuania's vehicle with diplomatic mail
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