Lithuania closes Medininkai border crossing over illegal Pakistani migrant

July 8, BPN. Lithuania has temporarily closed the Medininkai border checkpoint following an incident between Lithuanian and Belarusian border guards involving a foreigner, BNS reports citing the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service.

Belarusian border guards reportedly refused to readmit a Pakistani national who tried to enter Lithuania with fake identification papers.

Late on July 7, a foreigner traveling by bus from Minsk to Vilnius presented a driving license and an identity card, allegedly issued in Romania at the Lithuanian border, Giedrius Mišutis, spokesman for the border guards, told journalists. The foreigner was refused entry to Lithuania since the documents were forged, he added.

Belarusian border guards reportedly refused to let him cross to the Belarusian side. “We tried to talk to them [Belarusian border guards], to inform them of the situation, but they won’t let the man in, although they are obliged to do so,” Mišutis said, adding that the man was staying in the area of very heavy traffic.

Lithuania suspended traffic at the Medininkai border crossing as the situation remained unresolved, Mišutis said advising travelers to use other border crossings. 

Belarusian border authorities accused Lithuania of unilaterally stopping border processing in Medininkai and aggravating the situation. As of noon on July 8, 180 trucks were waiting to leave Belarus at the border crossing.