Lithuania is taking steps so that around 500 Lithuanian trucks stranded in Belarus could return home through the closed Šalčininkai border crossing, Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič said Thursday.
The government plans to approach Belarus, according to Kondratovič, which has banned the movement of Lithuanian trucks through its territory as a retaliation after Vilnius closed the Lithuania-Belarus border.
“A large group [of trucks] is near the Šalčininkai crossing, on the Belarusian side in Benyakoni. We believe those vehicles could start moving through this checkpoint since they cannot travel elsewhere. There are both drivers and trailers waiting there,” the interior minister told the radio Žinių Radijas.
“At the technical level, we’ll likely send a message through our border representatives proposing that the Šalčininkai crossing be used specifically for that transport. We’ll see how Belarus responds,” he added.
Following the government’s decision to temporarily close Lithuania's border with Belarus for a month, with certain exceptions applied at the Medininkai crossing, about 1,200 trucks and semi-trailers were waiting on the Belarusian side of the two temporarily closed checkpoints on Thursday morning, including around 400 in Benyakoni.
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