November 12, Pozirk. Vilnius will open the shared border with Belarus as soon as Alaksandar Łukašenka stops interfering with air traffic in Lithuania and posing a threat to NATO and the European Union, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys has told LRT.
“Łukašenka has taken [Lithuanian trucks] hostage and is trying to turn the whole situation into some kind of imaginary conflict that requires negotiations, which is misleading,” the minister said. “A hybrid attack has been launched. . . The regime [in Minsk] must take the situation with weather balloons under control and stop interfering with our air traffic, then we will have no reason to keep the checkpoints closed.”
The diplomat added that Minsk decided to continue escalating tensions and seize Lithuanian companies’ property, referring to Minsk’s ban on leaving the country for nearly 1,100 Lithuania-registered trucks stranded in Belarus. Their release was linked to border reopening.
Only de-escalation can help reopen border crossings, otherwise, Lithuania will be forced to take appropriate response measures, Budrys stressed.
Tensions between Belarus and Lithuania over cigarette-smuggling balloons have been rising since mid-October, forcing Lithuanian authorities to briefly close the border on several occasions and suspend operations at Vilnius Airport, located close to the Belarusian border.
On October 29, the Lithuanian government ruled to keep the shared border with Belarus closed until November 30 following numerous airspace violations. The closure may be extended, Vilnius warned.
Border crossings in Medininkai and Šalčininkai were the only two checkpoints handling all cross-border traffic between Lithuania and Belarus after Vilnius closed Šumskas and Tverečius crossings in 2023 and Lavoriškės and Raigardas in 2024, citing national security and smuggling among the reasons.
Belarus described the Lithuanian decision to close the border as “a politicized and ill-considered move” that has caused significant losses for transport companies.
