Trucks go gloomy: what is happening on the border of Belarus and Lithuania

A new conflict broke out between Lithuania and Belarus. Vilnius has closed its border with the neighboring country until the end of November. In response, Minsk banned the movement of Lithuanian trucks on its territory, and more than 1,000 trucks were blocked. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

Cigarettes by air

In September and October, Vilnius Airport, which is located near the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, suspended its work several times, each time the authorities reported the appearance of drones and weather balloons in the airspace. It was noted that a total of 150 flights had to change their route, and 20,000 passengers were affected by the restrictions.

The country's authorities noted that with the help of drones and weather balloons, cigarettes are being smuggled. On October 30, the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service reported that since the beginning of the year, security forces had intercepted 596 shipments of tobacco products, which is twice as much as last year's volume. "The standard size of the cargo is three boxes, that is, 1,500 packs of cigarettes, although there are both smaller and larger shipments," the border guards emphasized.

The ministry noted that since the beginning of the year, 891,000 packs have been seized, and 101 people involved in smuggling have been detained. 16 criminal cases were brought to court, five people were sentenced to imprisonment, and the rest were fined for a total of 111 thousand euros. At the same time, Lithuanian politicians talked about a coordinated campaign and blamed the Belarusian authorities and the KGB for what was happening.

The head of the European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, also talked about hybrid attacks on Lithuania and threatened Belarus with new sanctions. At the same time, Minsk admitted that there was smuggling, although they denied the involvement of the authorities.

As a result, the Lithuanian authorities closed the land border of the two countries, the decision is valid until November 30, then it can be extended. It is noted that one of the two working checkpoints, Shalchininkai, is completely blocked. On the second one, Medininkai, only diplomats, diplomatic carriers, citizens of the European Union and NATO countries, as well as persons traveling in transit to and from Kaliningrad, can cross the border.

Parking for millions

After the border was closed, it suddenly became clear that there were many Lithuanian drivers and trucks with goods on the Belarusian territory, which officials in Vilnius simply did not think about. The national association of Linava carriers reported that we are talking about one and a half thousand trucks. "Some trucks are stuck in Belarus, while others are forced to find detours through Poland and Latvia, which leads to additional costs and disrupts supply chains," said Linava Secretary General Narunas Raulinaitis.

Minsk soon ordered Lithuanian truckers to use only the Belarusian-Lithuanian section of the border, meaning that detours were inaccessible to them. "This decision is designed to protect the interests of bona fide carriers. The closure of the border with Lithuania has led to a massive reorientation towards the Belarusian-Polish and Belarusian-Latvian directions. There are serious traffic jams in these areas," Prime Minister Oleksandr Turchyn explained.

Further, the Belarusian authorities ordered Lithuanian drivers not to accumulate in the border area, but to stand in a special parking lot. "We emphasize that all additional expenses incurred by cargo carriers, senders and recipients of goods in Lithuania, other European Union states and beyond are caused solely by the rash, arbitrary and politicized actions of the Lithuanian authorities," the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Against this background, Lithuanian carriers did not hide their indignation at the actions of Vilnius. According to them, the authorities of the Baltic republic did not think about their own citizens, who were left blocked on the territory of a neighboring state. Oleg Tarasov, a representative of the Linava association, also said that the losses of logistics companies in the first week of November amounted to €5 million, with such trends, losses will amount to €1 billion over the year.

The Lithuanian authorities began to suspect something in such circumstances. Speaker of the Seimas Juozas Olekas said that if the threat of probes and drones passes, then the border could be opened. In turn, Prime Minister Inga Ruginene said that Vilnius is ready to ask Minsk to release the trucks. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry responded by saying that there would be no "selective decisions" on the border.

Threshold of passage: how Lithuania is threatened by attempts to block transit to Kaliningrad

Vilnius has closed the border with Belarus, but has not yet decided to restrict the movement of passengers and cargo to the western region of the Russian Federation.

On November 10, it became known that the Belarusian border guards had released about 200 trucks. At the level of rhetoric, however, further escalation continues. Lithuania has admitted that, if the crisis persists, rail transport between the countries may also be blocked. In Minsk, he said that stuck trucks can be confiscated if the owners do not pay for parking.

The pursuit of PR

Vsevolod Shimov, adviser to the president of the Russian Association of Baltic Studies, recalls that tension on the border of Belarus with the EU countries has been observed since 2020.

— In 2023, Poland and Lithuania closed most border crossings under the pretext of combating illegal migration. In September of this year, Warsaw closed the border for the duration of the Zapad-2025 exercises. Initially, there was talk of an indefinite lockdown, but a week later the checkpoints were operational. Obviously, this happened under pressure from China, as due to the closure of the border, rail transit within the framework of the One Belt, One Road initiative stopped," he explains.

The expert adds that now the initiative to close the border came exclusively from Lithuania.

— Vilnius is apparently trying to gain a foothold within the EU as a kind of outpost against "threats from the East." At the same time, the Lithuanian economy is obviously suffering. The republic has already lost revenue from transit through its main port of Klaipeda, while military spending is growing. Obviously, Vilnius expects to pull funds from the European budget to cover them. I believe that the border will be partially opened at the end of November, because the PR effect Lithuania needs will be achieved. But the tension in bilateral relations will not go away," he argues.

Vladimir Zharikhin, Deputy Director of the Institute of CIS Countries, believes that the Belarusian authorities acted quite logically.

— The Lithuanians have closed the border, what can Minsk do? Don't let truckers into the space between the two checkpoints, there are no conditions for people to stay there for a long time. Here the ball is exclusively on the Lithuanian side. At the same time, I think that Vilnius cares very little about the difficulties of its own citizens. Most likely, they will continue to create tension in the future, and they will come up with some more restrictive measures," he says.