The Lithuanian government is not planning to close more border crossings with Belarus in the new future, but the possibility to do so remains as security threats persist, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė said on Tuesday.
“There will certainly be no decisions on the closure of any additional checkpoints in the near future, but there is a very logical plan that outlines how the number of Lithuanian-Belarusian border crossings could be reduced, from where to start and where to finish, up to an extreme closure that would be carried out in coordination with other countries,” she told LRT RADIO.
Lithuania closed two of its six border crossings with Belarus – at Šumskas and Tverečius – about two weeks ago. Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė said on Monday that her ministry would propose closing two more checkpoints, at Lavoriškės and Raigardas.
Polish and Baltic ministers also agreed on Monday on a plan for completely sealing off their borders with Belarus. According to Bilotaitė, this could be done in a coordinated way in the event of an armed incident at the border or a “mass storming” of the border by irregular migrants.
According to Šimonytė, Belarus continues to be a “source of instability” because the country is led by a “self-proclaimed president who believes he can use various tools to try to secure something for himself”.
The prime minister said the presumed death of Wagner’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is not changing the situation, given, among other things, Minsk’s “orchestration” of irregular migration to neighbouring countries.
“In that sense, we can’t say that something in Belarus has improved all of a sudden. As for Wagner mercenaries, we definitely need to continue monitoring the situation, which our institutions are undoubtedly doing,” Šimonytė said.
“But I wouldn’t want to either overstate the threats posed by the situation or say that it has greatly improved just because someone shot down Prigozhin’s plane and saw the need to get rid of him,” she added.
It will take some time to assess the developments around Wagner mercenaries in Belarus to see if they will return to the front in Ukraine or join other private companies, according to Šimonytė.
“We are watching the situation with vigilance [...], but if decisions that change some status quo are to be made, they should have a serious basis, rather than just being general talk or discussions,” she said.
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