{"id":194022,"date":"2026-06-30T15:46:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/194022\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T15:57:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:57:45","slug":"lithuanian-mps-denounce-local-border-traffic-agreement-with-belarus","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/194022\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuanian MPs denounce local border traffic agreement with Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

June 30, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> The Lithuanian Seimas has passed a bill denouncing a local border traffic agreement with Belarus, which was signed as far back as 2011 but never took effect, its press office reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill received unanimous support of all 98 MPs who participated in the vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agreement allowed residents of border areas in Lithuania and Belarus to cross the state border using special local border traffic permits and stay in the neighboring country\u2019s border zone for up to 90 days within any six-month period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lithuania ratified the agreement in 2011 and notified Belarus accordingly, but it never entered into force because Minsk failed to confirm that it had completed the domestic procedures required for its implementation, Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidmantas Verbickas said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agreement is no longer relevant for both countries as it has not entered into force and more than 15 years have passed since its conclusion, the diplomat added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Border tensions between Belarus and the neighboring European Union countries have been running high for several years amid a surge in irregular crossings from Belarus and Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In December 2025, Lithuania declared an \u201cextreme situation,\u201d a low-level emergency over incursions of weather balloons that carried smuggled cigarettes from Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2010, Belarus signed local border traffic agreements with Poland and Latvia. The agreement with Poland was never put into effect, while the one with Latvia was enacted in February 2012, only to be suspended by Latvia in October 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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