“A string of cars to the horizon”: collapse intensified on the border of Lithuania and Belarus

There is no more interaction between the border guards of the two countries

Lithuania notified Belarus of the termination of cooperation on the uninterrupted passage of cars across the border unilaterally. According to Belarusian border guards, the countries will no longer cooperate with each other in jointly solving problems with queues at the border and increasing the throughput of checkpoints. Moskovsky Komsomolets understood what this would lead to in practice.

On November 4, 2019, the customs and border departments of Belarus and Lithuania agreed on a document on interaction with each other. At the checkpoint between the two countries, an electronic queue and border pass norms were installed, which, according to Belarusian drivers, were often not observed.

“The CPC every day, through the Belarusian media, poked Lithuanians and Poles with their noses at non-compliance with some agreed permit norms. This, apparently, was spelled out in this agreement. Now there is nothing to blame. Each side works as it sees fit for itself,” says the Belarusian with the nickname Pundit.

Lithuania did not limit itself to severing relations between border services. As of today, the Stasilay border crossing for freight trains has also been closed. Lithuania calls the reason “increased threat to national security.”

According to representatives of the Belarusian border committee, the decision will have a negative impact on the dynamics of border crossing by citizens and cars. In their opinion, Lithuania thus seeks to avoid obligations for the uninterrupted operation of border passes.

Today, there are decent queues on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. A large traffic jam occurred at the Kamenny Log checkpoint, where, according to the electronic queue, 35 cars and 110 trucks are standing at the exit from Belarus. Through online cameras, you can see with your own eyes how a line of cars stretches to the horizon. The situation is even worse at the Privalka point: 40 cars and more than two hundred trucks are waiting for their turn there.

According to the drivers standing at the border, the situation today, after the breach of the agreements, has not changed much. For example, a passenger bus crossed the border in 2-5 hours, and so it crosses now. “Lithuanians have not observed this agreement for the last year,” the drivers are indignant.

“We have been standing in line at the Kamenny Log checkpoint for several hours,” Oksana, a driver, told MK. “Cars are not allowed through, everyone has been standing in the waiting area since morning.”

– A lot of cars?

– There are definitely 50 – 60 cars. And there is no movement at all.