Belarus has rejected Lithuania’s renewed request to allow its trucks to return home through the temporarily closed Medininkai and Šalčininkai border checkpoints, saying the vehicles will remain blocked until Lithuania reopens the crossings.
According to the Belarusian news portal Nasha Niva, Lithuanian-registered trucks are not being allowed to leave Belarus, although their drivers are permitted to exit the country.
“As long as the Lithuanian side does not restore normal traffic through the Medininkai and Šalčininkai border checkpoints, trucks with Lithuanian registration plates will not be released through the Belarusian border,” the Belarusian State Customs Committee told the outlet.
State news agency Belta reported that about 800 Lithuanian trucks have been moved to parking areas near the border: 70 near Kamenny Log, 160 near Benyakoni, 220 near Kotlovka, and 350 near Berestavitsa. Belarus estimates there are roughly 1,100 Lithuanian trucks in the country.
State Border Guard Service (VSAT)spokesman Giedrius Mišutis told BNS on Tuesday morning that service chief Rustamas Liubajevas sent a formal request to his Belarusian counterpart on Monday evening.
“The commander, who is also Lithuania’s chief border representative, addressed his Belarusian counterpart responsible for the border with Lithuania,” Mišutis said. “The letter has been sent, but no response has been received yet.”
This marks the second time Lithuania has appealed to Belarusian authorities to let its trucks return. Last week, Vilnius proposed reopening the Šalčininkai checkpoint only for cargo vehicles registered in Lithuania or the European Union, but Minsk rejected the request.
Mišutis confirmed that since Monday morning, when two Lithuanian trucks were still allowed to cross through Medininkai before 09:00, no additional vehicles have been permitted to enter Lithuania.
“They were allowed through for technical reasons, but after 9 Belarus stopped letting them cross,” he said.
On Monday, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said Lithuanian trucks stranded in the country would be moved to commercial parking lots and charged a daily fee of €120 each. He also warned that vehicles would be confiscated if their owners failed to pay the fees.
Lithuania’s government has temporarily closed border crossings with Belarus for one month, until November 30, allowing only limited exceptions.
Lukashenko sends negotiators
On Tuesday, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko instructed the Foreign Ministry to hold talks with Lithuanian officials on normalising the situation and reopening border checkpoints, according to reports by the Belarusian state news agency Belta.
“As has become known, proposals from the Lithuanian authorities on resolving the situation on the Belarusian-Lithuanian border were received today [...]. The president listened to reports on the situation on the Belarusian-Lithuanian and Belarusian-Polish borders,” Lukashenko's press service said.
President’s adviser: no concessions to Minsk
A presidential adviser said Tuesday that Vilnius should not reopen the border.
“The State Border Guard Service is in contact with the Belarusian side, and I would just like to urge the government to resolve this issue. But I really don’t see any point in making concessions at this point,” Deividas Matulionis told reporters.
“Let’s not forget when and why the problem started,” he continued. “Because of balloons launched from Belarusian territory. It is clear that this is a hybrid attack and Lithuania had to take concrete action.”
“If there were any goodwill on Lukashenko’s part, this problem would have been solved long ago, it would be a matter of days,” said Matulionis. “Talking to the other side really does not yield results […]. We really have to make decisions that will have an impact on Belarus.”
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