November 20, Pozirk. The Medininkai-Kamienny Łoh and Šalčininkai-Bieniakoni border crossings at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border resumed full operation on midnight (1 a.m. Minsk time), BNS reported.
Only dozens of vehicles were waiting in the queue for crossing, said Gedrius Mišutis of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service. Currently, there are no buses or trucks at the checkpoints, but they will arrive, he added.
The Belarusian electronic queue showed 575 vehicles registered to leave Belarus via Medininkai-Kamienny Łoh, with 360 vehicles registered at Šalčininkai-Bieniakoni.
The reopening of checkpoints increases the number of available crossings into the European Union to seven. Poland operates four checkpoints, Lithuania, two and Latvia, one.
Originally, Vilnius planned to keep all border crossings closed from October 29 to November 30 in response to repeated airspace violations by balloons launched from Belarus.
Tensions between Belarus and Lithuania caused by cigarette-smuggling balloons rose in 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.
Later, Lithuania’s Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė noted that border guards have recently 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.
At least 1,265 Lithuania-registered trucks were stranded in Belarus before the reopening of checkpoints/ Minsk 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.
