November 19, Pozirk. Lithuania will restore traffic through the Medininkai and Šalčininkai border crossings on the shared border with Belarus at midnight (1 p.m. Minsk time) on November 20, according to the Lithuanian government’s website.
Traffic will be open “only for automobiles,” so it is unclear whether passenger buses will be allowed to cross the border. Originally, Vilnius planned to keep the checkpoints closed until November 30 in response to repeated airspace violations by cigarette-smuggling balloons launched from Belarus.
Tensions between both countries over 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.
Earlier this week, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys suggested that an earlier reopening was possible, while emphasizing that Lithuania’s priority remained countering hybrid threats and pressuring Minsk to change its behavior.
Yesterday, Lithuania’s Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė noted that border guards had recorded fewer incursions involving weather balloons used to smuggle cigarettes. If the checkpoints reopen, Lithuanian-registered trucks “should be allowed to return to Lithuania,” she added.
Currently, 1,265 Lithuania-registered trucks are stranded in Belarus as a result of the closure. Minsk has barred the Lithuanian cargo vehicles from leaving the country and ordered them to guarded parking areas. In response, Vilnius has accused Belarus of further escalating tensions by seizing the vehicles and preventing their return.
