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Lithuanian politician: Checkpoints on Belarus border likely to open before 30 November

An archive photo

MINSK, 18 November (BelTA) – Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania Mindaugas Sinkevičius has stated that the border with Belarus is highly likely to reopen before 30 November, according to Lithuanian media reports.

The statement was made during a meeting of Lithuania’s National Security Commission, which discussed the situation with trucks stranded in Belarus.

A day earlier, Mindaugas Sinkevičius said that “the most appropriate and optimal solution that meets the interests of all carriers and companies” would be made at the National Security Commission meeting on 18 November.

The leader of the Social Democrats noted: “We are hopeful the situation will normalize, though it remains fluid. Our strategy combines consistent, on-the-ground work by forensic, border, customs, and police units with political and diplomatic steps. These are not just assumptions, but a concerted effort to prevent a similar situation from recurring.”

“We are acting from the perspective of our national policy,” Mindaugas Sinkevičius said after Poland reopened two border crossings with Belarus on 17 November.

Head of the Lithuanian Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy Remigijus Motuzas stated that the Lithuanian government would make a final decision on reopening the border with Belarus on 19 November. Vilnius is inclined to do it before the originally planned date of 30 November. Remigijus Motuzas noted that the border crisis is much more serious than previously thought. Not only Lithuanian carriers, but also Central Asia, China, and other countries are dissatisfied because supply chains are disrupted.

The Lithuanian National Road Carriers’ Association (LINAVA) believes that Belarus did not make mistakes in this situation, and that Lithuania should have caught smugglers with balloons on its own territory instead of closing the border.

Representatives of the Lithuanian and Belarusian border services are holding negotiations today regarding the situation at the border.

On 29 October the Lithuanian government authorized closing the border crossings with Belarus till 30 November. The border crossing Šalčininkai (Benyakoni on the Belarusian side) was closed to all traffic while the border crossing Medininkai (Kamenny Log on the Belarusian side) is still open to individuals, for whom exceptions have been made. 

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