Minsk refuses to release Lithuanian trucks, insisting on meeting of diplomats
November 25, Pozirk. Minsk insists on a meeting of diplomats to resolve an ongoing impasse over Lithuanian trucks stranded in Belarus.
“Let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ours and Lithuanian, meet to resolve the situation,” Alaksandar Łukašenka told Alaksandar Valfovič, state secretary of the Security Council, today. So far, there have been no reports that Vilnius has accepted the proposal.
The Belarusian ruler said that he had instructed Valfovič to meet with drivers to explain what was going on and who was to blame. “I believe you did so,” he noted.
The meeting comes the day after Vilnius condemned Minsk’s refusal to release more than 1,200 Lithuanian trucks stranded on Belarusian territory, calling it “a deliberate seizure of property and a gross violation of universally recognized norms of international law.”
The trucks entered Belarus before Lithuania closed the border in late October and remain parked in designated holding areas even after Lithuania reopened the Medininkai–Kamienny Łoh and Šalčininkai–Bieniakoni checkpoints on November 20.
Last week, Minsk proposed consultations between the countries’ foreign ministries to create a mechanism ensuring stable border-crossing procedures and preventing future closures.
Vilnius might be reluctant to accept the invitation since Lithuania limited official contacts with Minsk after what it called rigged presidential election of 2020.
Lithuania’s interior minister opposes renewed border closure
November 25, Pozirk. Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič has voiced opposition to proposals that Lithuania again close its border with Belarus in response to incursions by cigarette-smuggling weather balloons and an ongoing impasse over stranded Lithuanian trucks. Kondratovič told Lrytas that …
