Lithuania to temporarily close two checkpoints on the border with Belarus

The Lithuanian government approved the proposal of the Ministry of Transport to temporarily suspend the operation of two of the six checkpoints on the border with Belarus, reported on the cabinet website.

We are talking about the road checkpoints Shumskas (Losha) and Tverečius (Vidzy). Only passenger cars pass through the first, and empty trucks, in addition to cars, pass through the second. All employees of these checkpoints will be sent to the largest border point Medininkai.

The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Lithuania, Agne Bilotaite, in turn, said that this decision is a response to the deployment of Wagner PMC fighters in Belarus.

“This decision is one of the preventive measures aimed at controlling threats to national security and possible provocations at the border. This will create conditions for the border guards to redistribute their capabilities on the border with Belarus and focus even more attention on protecting the state border,” she said.

At the State Border Committee of Belarus declaredthat the official voiced position of Lithuania does not correspond to the real reasons for such a decision.

“In fact, the Lithuanian authorities are using any pretext to prevent the movement of not only goods, but also to reduce the flow of Lithuanians traveling under a visa-free regime,” the report says.

The department warned of an increase in queues at all other checkpoints. Lithuania, realizing this, deliberately creates artificial barriers to the borders to achieve political goals, they concluded.

On August 3, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda announced the possible complete closure of the border with Belarus due to the Wagner PMC fighters stationed there. The next day, the deputy of the Defense and National Security Committee of the Seimas of Lithuania, Laurynas Kaschyunas, on the air of the Lithuanian National Radio and Television, said that the closure of certain border checkpoints with Belarus would definitely happen.

On August 8, the country’s government announced an enhanced operation of the border service in the territories bordering Belarus. On August 10, the Belarusian border committee accused the Lithuanian border guard of violating the border.