{"id":164864,"date":"2025-11-20T09:08:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T06:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/164864\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"lithuania-reopens-two-checkpoints-on-belarus-border","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/164864\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuania reopens two checkpoints on Belarus border"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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November 20, <\/strong>Pozirk.<\/strong> <\/em>The Medininkai-Kamienny \u0141oh and \u0160al\u010dininkai-Bieniakoni border crossings at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border resumed full operation on midnight (1 a.m. Minsk time), BNS <\/em>reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only dozens of vehicles were waiting in the queue for crossing, said Gedrius Mi\u0161utis of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service. Currently, there are no buses or trucks at the checkpoints, but they will arrive, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian electronic queue showed 575 vehicles registered to leave Belarus via Medininkai-Kamienny \u0141oh, with 360 vehicles registered at \u0160al\u010dininkai-Bieniakoni.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reopening of checkpoints increases the number of available crossings into the European Union to seven. Poland operates four checkpoints, Lithuania, two and Latvia, one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally, Vilnius planned to keep all border crossings closed from October 29 to November 30 in response to repeated airspace violations by balloons launched from Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tensions between Belarus and Lithuania caused by cigarette-smuggling balloons rose in mid-October, forcing Lithuanian authorities to briefly close the border on several occasions and suspend operations at Vilnius Airport, located close to the Belarusian border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this week, Lithuanian Foreign Minister K\u0119stutis Budrys suggested that an earlier reopening was possible, while emphasizing that Lithuania\u2019s priority remained countering hybrid threats and pressuring Minsk to change its behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, Lithuania\u2019s Prime Minister Inga Ruginien\u0117 noted that border guards have recently recorded fewer incursions involving weather balloons used to smuggle cigarettes. If the checkpoints reopen, Lithuanian-registered trucks \u201cshould be allowed to return to Lithuania,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least 1,265 Lithuania-registered trucks were stranded in Belarus before the reopening of checkpoints\/ Minsk barred the Lithuanian cargo vehicles from leaving the country and ordered them to guarded parking areas. In response, Vilnius has accused Belarus of further escalating tensions by seizing the vehicles and preventing their return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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