Bus drivers transporting people between Belarus and Lithuania without permits could lose their visas, says Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania's National Crisis Management Centre, amid the government’s drive to cut traveller flows between the two countries.
“We can talk about abolishing visas for carriers if we see such cases repeating,” Vitkauskas told LRT RADIO on Friday, adding that illegal carriers are now being caught and there are no plans to reduce checks.
Lithuania plans to cut the number of permits to carry passengers between Lithuania and Belarus by about half, saying the number of people crossing the border is increasing and should be checked.
Genius Lukošius, head of Lithuania’s Transport Safety Administration, says more than 60 buses taking passengers to Belarus have been inspected in the past six months and “only one of them had no violations”.
“Out of 64 checks, 25 cases were found where the buses did not have the necessary permit for the trip,” he said.
Carriers face fines between 2,500 and 3,000 euros for passenger transport violations, and could be fined between 3,000 and 3,500 euros for repeated offenses.
There are currently 58 bus services running between Lithuania and Belarus.
The Lithuanian government wants to reduce the number of Belarusian citizens entering the country, giving national security as the reason. It also says it is fighting smuggling and now mulls closing down two more border checkpoints on its border with Belarus. Another two checkpoints on the Belarusian border were closed last year.
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