Lithuanian truckers may stage protests if the government does not present a concrete plan to retrieve vehicles detained in Belarus, the head of the National Association of Road Carriers Linava warned Tuesday.
“Trucks are being forcibly held in Belarus, and yet truckers are not protesting. I would describe the situation this way: Linava probably cannot control the carriers, and their actions are currently unpredictable. If the situation does not change, unfortunately, anything could happen,” Erlandas Mikėnas, Linava’s president, told BNS.
He said truckers are demanding clear steps and information from the government and the National Crisis Management Centre, warning that uncertainty is leading to frustration.
Social Democratic Party leader Mindaugas Sinkevičius stressed that Lithuania is taking all possible measures to resolve the situation.
“The message to truckers is that the state is doing everything it can to bring them and their property back from Belarus,” he told journalists in the Seimas on Tuesday.
Trucks remain stuck in Belarus
Despite Lithuania reopening its border last Thursday, freight vehicles have not left special holding areas in Belarus, Mikėnas said.
“We have no news; the situation has not changed. Belarus keeps repeating that consultations with Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry are required,” he told BNS Tuesday morning.
Povilas Drižas, secretary general of the International Transport and Logistics Alliance (TTLA), confirmed that Lithuanian trucks remain held and have not returned. Some carriers are re-registering trucks in Latvia in an effort to continue operations.
Linava is calling for all possible diplomatic, legal, and political measures to ensure the immediate return of the trucks. The association also demands that authorities monitor the situation closely, provide information to affected carriers, organise meetings with the government, and initiate compensation for storage fees or other losses.
The association added that if vehicles are confiscated due to insufficient government action, carriers will seek compensation through the courts.
Border traffic picking up pace
Giedrius Mišutis, a spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service (VSAT), said Tuesday that trucks with Lithuanian plates are still not entering Lithuania.
“Yesterday, about 10 trucks returned at each border point – these are vehicles that had left since last Thursday,” Mišutis said.
He noted that overall border throughput has increased, but the expected Lithuanian trucks have not arrived.
At the Medininkai checkpoint, 53 trucks entered and 165 left on Monday, while 47 entered and 76 exited through Šalčininkai.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys called Belarus’s refusal to release trucks, combined with ongoing contraband balloon incidents, a “hybrid attack” and urged the European Union to implement new sanctions.
Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said Monday that the National Security Council will soon meet to consider further measures, though no date has been set. Lithuania reopened the Medininkai and Šalčininkai border checkpoints on Thursday, 10 days earlier than originally planned.
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