Vilnius signals willingness to engage with Minsk despite officials’ claims to contrary
The Lithuanian foreign ministry
January 29, Pozirk. Vilnius and Minsk are discussing the agenda and a neutral venue for a meeting of deputy foreign ministers, LRT reported citing BNS and Žinių radijas.
Remigijus Motuzas, chairman of the Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee, reportedly said that such a meeting could be held on the sidelines of an international event.
Vilnius would like to discuss ways to prevent hybrid threats and return Lithuanian trucks stuck in Belarus, he added.
The Lithuanian foreign office and cabinet have not officially reported on preparations for such a meeting.
Earlier today, Dzianis Kučynski, an aide to Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja, said that he was unaware of Vilnius’s plans to engage with Minsk.
Overflights by weather balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes is a major contentious issue between the two countries.
On January 28, Lithuania handed a note of protest to the Belarusian chargé d’affaires over an overnight mass incursion. Lithuanian authorities said they detected about 40 weather balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes.
Today, Lithuanian Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič denied that his agency had any contacts with authorities in Belarus. “We have not received any information from them although we have repeatedly indicated that balloons were launched from certain locations and asked to take measures.”
Minsk and Vilnius have also clashed over assets.
On January 9, Belarus was still holding 410 Lithuanian trucks, 473 semi-trailers and 30 other vehicles, according to LINAVA, the Lithuanian National Road Carriers Association.
Lithuania closed the Medininkai–Kamienny Łoh and Šalčininkai–Bieniakoni border checkpoints with Belarus from October 29 to November 20 following incursions by air balloons. Since then, the trucks have remained stranded on Belarusian territory.
Belarus barred the vehicles from leaving the country and ordered them to relocate to guarded parking sites. Lithuania, in turn, accused Belarus of escalating by effectively seizing the vehicles and preventing their return.
Vilnius refused Minsk’s appeals for direct diplomatic talks, having significantly downgraded official contacts after what it described as Belarus’ rigged 2020 presidential election.
Minsk has pushed for consultations between the two countries’ foreign ministries, while Lithuania initially viewed such talks as an attempt to break the international isolation of Alaksandar Łukašenka’s regime and potentially pave the way for easing sanctions.
Speaking at a government conference on December 9, the Belarusian leader outlined what Minsk would like to discuss in potential talks with Vilnius.
“Give us back the 17 or 20 trucks that you stole — the fire engines we shipped to Zimbabwe. Normalize operations at our health resort, where we treated children affected by Chernobyl. They actually took the resort away from children. And give us back the money we spent on building a port [in Lithuania],” he was quoted as saying by state media.
Łukašenka was likely referring to the Belorus health resort in Druskininkai and Biełaruśkalij’s 30 percent stake in Birių Krovinių Terminalas (BKT), a dry cargo terminal in Klaipėda.
Lithuania suspended the transshipment of Belarusian fertilizers through the port of Klaipėda on February 1, 2022, citing human rights abuses by Minsk. Biełaruśkalij has been under EU sanctions since 2021.
In August 2022, the Belarusian leader accused Lithuania of expropriating Biełaruśkalij’s assets.
Vilnius hands protest note to Belarus over balloon incursions
January 28, Pozirk. Lithuania has handed a note of protest to the Belarusian chargé d’affaires over a mass incursion of balloons from Belarus overnight from January 27 to 28, the Lithuanian foreign ministry reported. According to the note, the incursions …
