The Authorities Decided To Take Lithuanian Trucks Hostage
- 6.11.2025, 14:41
In retaliation for closing the border.
Lithuania intends to ask the Belarusian authorities to return the Lithuanian trucks stuck in Belarus after the closure of border crossings. In response, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said that it was not personally responsible for the consequences of the border closure. So it looks like the authorities are going to take Lithuanian trucks hostage, writes planbmedia.io.
The decision to close the last two border crossings by the end of November was taken by the Lithuanian authorities last week in response to smuggling weather probe raids. After that, Lukashenko said that smuggling is nothing, a mundane matter, and he has nothing to apologize for.
And the Belarusian government, as a retaliatory measure, banned trucks with Lithuanian license plates to leave Belarus through any checkpoints, except for Lithuanian ones. As a result, according to the Lithuanian authorities, there are already 5,000 trucks in Belarus, which can't leave the country.
"It was decided to appeal to Belarus to agree on the return of Lithuanian trucks home. The process is already underway, negotiations are underway, let's see what the result will be," said Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginenė on Wednesday.
Lithuanian Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovich said that for the sake of this Lithuanian authorities are ready to open the border crossing Shalchininkai. To begin with, 500 trucks and trailers are supposed to pass through it, "which are actually in the neutral zone in front of the border." However, the Lithuanian authorities are not going to open the border for all the rest.
"The border itself will remain closed," said Ruginenė.
Bearing in mind that Lithuania opens its own border crossing for its trucks, there seem to be no formal obstacles to let them out. But the Belarusian authorities have never been big supporters of any silly formalities.
"Belarus is not responsible for its negative consequences, which turned out to be multifaceted - from problems with freight transport to significant damage caused not only to Belarusian citizens and businesses, the Lithuanian side itself, but also to citizens of third countries, including EU member states," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ruslan Varankov.
So Lithuanian trucks in Belarus may be delayed. Because the hostage trade seems to be the only type of diplomatic activity available to the Belarusian authorities. Therefore, hostages should be more and more diverse.