{"id":164622,"date":"2025-11-18T19:52:39","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T16:52:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/164622\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"vilnius-minsk-edge-closer-to-agreement-on-reopening-border","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/164622\/","title":{"rendered":"Vilnius, Minsk edge closer to agreement on reopening border"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (Pozirk file photo)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

November 18, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Lithuania\u2019s prime minister has indicated that her cabinet may decide as early as tomorrow whether to reopen the country\u2019s border with Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the situation remains unchanged and we continue to see the same results as we see today, I personally support such a decision. But let\u2019s wait for the government\u2019s decision \u2014 after all, it is a collective body,\u201d Inga Ruginien\u0117 was quoted as saying by LRT<\/em> following a technical meeting between border officials from the two countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the checkpoints reopen, Lithuanian-registered trucks \u201cshould be allowed to return to Lithuania,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruginien\u0117 noted that border guards have recently recorded fewer incursions involving weather balloons used to smuggle cigarettes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver the past week, we have observed only a small number of balloons \u2014 from zero to two or three. Most often, they do not cross our border. As you may have noticed, airport operations have not been disrupted, and flights continue as normal,\u201d she said, highlighting what she described as positive signals from Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She stressed that Vilnius closed the border for security reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lithuania shut all border crossings on October 29 through November 30 in response to repeated incursions by cigarette-smuggling balloons launched from Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, Lithuanian Foreign Minister K\u0119stutis Budrys also suggested that an earlier reopening was possible, while emphasizing that Lithuania\u2019s priority remained countering hybrid threats and pressuring Minsk to change its behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, 1,265 Lithuania-registered trucks are stranded in Belarus as a result of the month-long closure. Minsk has barred Lithuanian trucks from leaving the country and ordered them to guarded parking areas. Vilnius has accused Belarus of further escalating tensions by seizing the vehicles and preventing their return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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