December 8, Pozirk. Lithuanian Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič proposed considering the possibility of suspending passenger bus service between Lithuania and Belarus.
“The only question is how this would affect the Belarusian regime — whether it would be painful or not, and whether it might fuel hostile sentiment toward the European Union and other countries,” LRT quoted him as saying.
Kondratovič added that he plans to discuss this move with his Polish and Latvian counterparts in Brussels this week. “A joint solution is needed here, not only from Lithuania but also from Latvia and Poland. We need to determine a common approach,” he said.
Latvia is already reportedly considering suspending bus connections with Belarus and Russia over security concerns.
Tensions between Belarus and Lithuania over cigarette-smuggling balloons have been rising since mid-October, forcing Lithuanian authorities to briefly close the border on several occasions and suspend operations at Vilnius International Airport, located close to the Belarusian border. Latvia has also reported several similar incidents recently.
Currently, only daily bus services connect Minsk with Vilnius, Riga and Warsaw yet there are often long queues to exit and enter Belarus due to a limited number of operating border crossings.
Rail passenger traffic between Belarus and Lithuania, Poland and Latvia, has been suspended since 2020 when it was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Air links between Belarus and the EU were severed more than four years ago over the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk after Belarusian security officers cited a false bomb threat to divert the passenger aircraft and arrest journalist Raman Pratasievič.
Last year, cars with Belarusian license plates were banned from entering the EU through the Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian checkpoints following the adoption of new restrictions by the EU Council designed to punish Alaksandar Łukašenka regime for its involvement in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
