Vilnius (AFP) – Lithuania has reopened its border with Belarus, but thousands of trucks are still stuck on the other side, the foreign ministry in Vilnius said, accusing Minsk of “blackmail” over millions of euros in stranded goods. Lithuania had shut its border with Belarus in late October after dozens of balloons loaded with illegal cigarettes entered its airspace, forcing the temporary closure of some of its airports. The Lithuanian government and European Union denounced the incidents as a “hybrid attack.”
But the border closure meant that thousands of trucks employed by Lithuania’s logistics sector were trapped in Belarus for weeks, inflaming tensions between the two countries. Lithuania, a NATO and European Union member, reopened two of the border crossings on Thursday. However, the ministry said in a statement late that same day that many of the trucks were still “being held hostage.” It accused the government in Minsk — a close ally of Russia — of “coercion and blackmail.”
Oleg Tarasov, vice president of Linava, the Lithuanian road carriers’ association, told AFP one day after the border closed that an estimated 60 million euros ($69 million) in assets were stuck in Belarus. Speaking to AFP on Friday, Tarasov stated that “the numbers (of seized trucks) haven’t changed.” He added, “There are around 4,500 lorries, including those stuck on the border and those that haven’t been caught yet and are on the road,” noting that some have been “hidden away in private parking lots” to avoid being seized.
Lithuania had originally said it would close the border crossings until November 30. However, on Wednesday, Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovic announced they would reopen earlier than expected, telling a cabinet meeting that such restrictions were “no longer necessary to ensure internal security.” On Thursday, a spokesman of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry told journalists that the decision to resume operations at the Lithuanian border was “taken in violation of established procedures,” claiming that Lithuania demonstrated “disregard for its international legal obligations.”
The airport in Vilnius imposed some temporary restrictions on Friday after more suspected smugglers’ balloons were launched from Belarus, disrupting operations for over an hour, according to the National Crisis Management Center. The Lithuanian Ministry of Transport did not respond to AFP’s request for comment on Friday. Four other border crossings with Belarus were closed in 2023 and 2024 due to security concerns after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
© 2024 AFP
