Lithuania will close two more checkpoints on the border with Belarus
February 21, 2024
Lithuania will close two more border crossings with neighboring Belarus for security reasons, the government in Vilnius made this decision on Wednesday, February 21. The Lavorishkes and Raigardas checkpoints will be closed from March 1 indefinitely until further notice.
Thus, only two of the six checkpoints on the almost 680-kilometer border between Lithuania and Belarus will remain open.
The Sumskas and Tveretsius checkpoints were closed in the summer of 2023, among other things, due to the deployment of Wagner PMC mercenaries into the country.” The Medininkai and Shalcininkai checkpoints are still operating, but pedestrians and cyclists are not allowed to cross the border in them, notes the dpa agency.
According to Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite, the closure of the checkpoint “is intended to ensure better control over the flow of goods, transport and people across the border”, as well as “to prevent import and export attempts of authorized goods and contraband.” ”
Belarus is subject to numerous EU sanctions due to human rights violations in this country and the regime’s support in Minsk for Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine.
Source: DW
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