It’s too early to resume passenger train service between Vilnius and the Belarusian capital Minsk, Deividas Matulionis, President Gitanas Nauseda's chief national security adviser, has said.
“I think it's too early to talk about this. We don't see any changes in Belarus,” he told the Žinių Radijas radio on Tuesday.
The 15min news website reported last week that Lithuania had received a proposal from Minsk through the Warsaw-based Organization for Cooperation between Railways (OSJD) to restore passenger train service.
Transport minister’s spokesman Lukas Paškevičius said the proposal was being considered and awaiting evaluation by the interior and foreign ministries and the State Security Department (VSD).
On Monday, Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas said Lithuania would not rush to respond to the proposal from Belarus.
Passenger train service between Lithuania and Belarus was suspended in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The connection remained severed due to the crisis in Belarus following the disputed 2020 presidential election and the subsequent crackdown on the opposition, some of which fled to Lithuania.
Matulionis, the presidential adviser, stressed that it is the Russian and Belarusian security services that are trying to drive a wedge between Lithuanians and Belarusians.
“Belarusians are not Russians, they are a different nation, they are not aggressive and they need to be encouraged to feel the desire to be free,” the adviser said.
Multiple coach connections run between Lithuania and Belarus every day.
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