{"id":162546,"date":"2025-10-31T22:04:45","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T19:04:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/162546\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"minsk-restricts-lithuanian-trucks-to-checkpoints-closed-by-vilnius","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/162546\/","title":{"rendered":"Minsk restricts Lithuanian trucks to checkpoints closed by Vilnius"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (State Border Committee)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

October 31, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Belarus has banned Lithuanian carriers from using its border crossings, except for the checkpoints that Lithuania closed on October 29 for one month, says a recent Belarusian government resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lithuanian-registered trucks can exit Belarus only via the Belarusian-Lithuanian border section, the document says, linking the move to Lithuania\u2019s recent shutdown of its border crossings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vilnius closed the border crossings in Medininkai and \u0160al\u010dininkai \u2014 the only two checkpoints that were handling all cross-border traffic between Lithuania and Belarus \u2014 citing an influx of cigarette-smuggling balloons. In 2023, Lithuania closed the \u0160umskas and Tvere\u010dius crossings, followed by Lavori\u0161k\u0117s and Raigardas in 2024, over national security and smuggling concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 5,000 Lithuanian trucks were blocked in Belarus after the Lithuanian border closure this month, according to the Belarusian State Customs Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka denounced Lithuania\u2019s policies as \u201ca crazy gamble.\u201d He advised Lithuania to deal with the issue domestically: \u201cIf small balloons carrying cigarettes or something else are flying there, I believe the problem should be solved within their territory. Because they don\u2019t just fly to nowhere. Someone receives them, and someone profits. They need to identify and root out these schemes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cigarette smuggling remains a lucrative illegal trade: while legally sold cigarettes are of higher quality, they cost three to four times more in Lithuania than those produced in Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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