Lithuania’s national road carriers’ association on Wednesday criticised the authorities’ decision to temporarily close two remaining border checkpoints with Belarus, saying the six-and-a-half-hour shutdown caused unnecessary harm to the transport sector.
Authorities closed the Medininkai and Šalčininkai crossings overnight after several dozen smuggling balloons entered Lithuania’s airspace, temporarily disrupting operations at Vilnius Airport.
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Narūnas Raulinaitis, secretary general of Linava, which represents more than 700 transport companies, said the association “strongly criticises” the decision to suspend traffic through the Medininkai and Šalčininkai crossings overnight.
“State institutions have both the right and the duty to ensure airspace security, but in this case, the decision raises serious questions about proportionality,” Raulinaitis said in a statement. “An air incident should not be a reason to paralyse road transport.”
The State Border Guard Service (VSAT) defended the move, saying the closure had only a minimal impact. Spokesman Giedrius Mišutis told BNS that traffic at both checkpoints was light and that disruptions were “insignificant”.
“There were a few passenger cars that turned back at the checkpoints, while freight vehicles waited in designated parking areas with proper conditions for drivers,” Mišutis said. “Once we received the signal to reopen, traffic resumed smoothly. The process was suspended for about six hours, but there were no issues.”
According to the VSAT, before traffic resumed, around 15 trucks were waiting near the Medininkai checkpoint and slightly more than 30 in the parking area. By about 09:30, no vehicles remained in line.
At the Šalčininkai crossing, roughly 15 trucks were waiting at the border and around 115 were parked nearby before the checkpoint reopened.
Mišutis added that compared with previous days, the situation on Wednesday “remained largely unchanged”, with no queues forming and no negative reaction from travellers.
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