The political scientist assessed the situation on the border of Lithuania and Belarus

Lithuania is trying to gain a foothold within the EU as an outpost against "threats from the East." Vsevolod Shimov, adviser to the President of the Russian Association of Baltic Studies, said this in an interview with Izvestia.

"Obviously, Vilnius expects to pull funds from the European budget under the pretext of these threats. I believe that at the end of November, the border with Belarus will be partially opened, because the PR effect Lithuania needs will be achieved. But the tension in the bilateral relations will not go away," he explained.

The Lithuanian government has decided to completely close the border with Belarus for a period of one month on October 29. Later it was reported that because of this, about 5,000 Lithuanian trucks were blocked on the Belarusian-Lithuanian border, which, as reported by the State Customs Committee of Belarus on November 1, would be able to return only after the borders were opened.

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, the press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry reported that Lithuanian trucks would be moved to a special parking lot near the Kotlovka checkpoint. It is specified that this decision was made in connection with ensuring the safety and security of vehicles located mainly at the entrances to the Kamenny Log and Benyakoni points.

Read more about the situation on the border of the two countries in the Izvestia article.

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