Lithuania boosts travel controls at Belarus border

January 10, BPN. Vilnius has tightened travel controls at the shared border with Belarus since January 1, Deputy Interior Minister Arnoldas Abramavičius told the LRT radio station.

However, Lithuania is not planning to close the border completely because it is helping critics of the Belarusian regime, Delfi reported citing the official.

Lithuania’s interior ministry has already taken a lot of effective measures to prevent the arrival of potentially dangerous people from Belarus, Abramavičius noted.

It stepped up screening at the border, limited the issue of temporary residence permits, introduced additional questionnaires to assess the potential threats to national security and stopped temporary workers’ flows, he added.

In late December, Alaksandr Łukašenka extended Belarus’ visa waiver program for Lithuanians, Latvians and Poles beyond 2022. However, Belarus’ Western neighbors urged their citizens not to visit Belarus for security reasons.

A total of 252,902 Lithuanians entered Belarus without a visa, with 3,737 visits recorded last week alone.