{"id":1237,"date":"2023-08-27T10:29:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-27T07:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=1237"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"lithuania-may-close-more-crossings-over-smuggling","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/1237\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuania may close more crossings over smuggling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>August 27,&nbsp;<em>BPN<\/em>.<\/strong>&nbsp;Lithuania is considering&nbsp;the possible closure of more checkpoints at the shared border with Belarus, Interior Minister Agn\u0117 Bilotait\u0117 told journalists on August 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More staff is needed to handle the issue of smuggling, she said. The official did not elaborate on threats to national security but said that Lithuanian authorities were&nbsp;discussing possible solutions. &#8220;Lithuania is ready for appropriate scenarios,&#8221;&nbsp;<em>Delfi<\/em>&nbsp;cited her as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bilotait\u0117 stressed the importance of a common border security plan for Lithuania and the neighboring European Union&nbsp;countries. On August 28, interior ministers of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland will discuss the&nbsp;issue along with regional security and the closure of borders to Belarus at their meeting in Warsaw, she noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lithuania is ready to develop a comprehensive plan to seal the border and coordinate it with other Belarus&#8217; western neighbors, she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The meeting in Warsaw will focus on developing common response strategies to possible threats or provocations from the Belarusian side and work out criteria for border closure, the official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On August 18, Lithuania closed the \u0160umskas and Tvere\u010dius checkpoints at the border with Belarus, citing the lack of equipment for scanning truck trailers and security concerns, including Russia&#8217;s Wagner Group mercenaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the first half of 2023, Lithuanian customs seized almost 6.5 million packs of smuggled Belarusian cigarettes and 32 tons of tobacco worth over \u20ac26 million.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>August 27,&nbsp;BPN.&nbsp;Lithuania is considering&nbsp;the possible closure of more checkpoints at the shared border with Belarus, Interior Minister Agn\u0117 Bilotait\u0117 told journalists on August 25. More staff is needed to handle the issue of smuggling, she said. The official did not elaborate on threats to national security but said that Lithuanian authorities were&nbsp;discussing possible solutions. &#8220;Lithuania [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[30],"class_list":["post-1237","articles","type-articles","status-publish","hentry","rubric-security"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lithuania may close more crossings over smuggling | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"August 27,&nbsp;BPN.&nbsp;Lithuania is considering&nbsp;the possible closure of more checkpoints at the shared border with Belarus, Interior Minister Agn\u0117\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/1237\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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