A scandal suddenly broke out between the two former brotherly republics. Lithuania accused Belarus of violating international law and causing billions of dollars in damage. However, President Lukashenko has his own vision of the current situation. Details are in this article.
Don't insult the driver!
A real traffic collapse occurred on the Lithuania-Belarus border: many cargo trucks were stuck there. The auto crisis arose after Lithuanian authorities decided to unilaterally close their borders without warning their carriers.
As a result, more than a thousand trucks have accumulated in the paid parking lots of Belarus. It is noteworthy that according to Belarusian law, they can be confiscated later. Meanwhile, Lithuania's Minister of Internal Affairs, Vladislav Kondratovich, declared that Belarus violates the “Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods by Road” ratified by the United Nations.
Lithuania refuses to make concessions to Belarus on the border situation
According to him, there is still no official announcement about the confiscation of Lithuanian trucks from Minsk, but “the situation could change in an hour – and they will decide to confiscateThat's what Belarus is like.” He said the exact number of Lithuanian trucks remaining in Belarus has not yet been determined.
All this happened against the backdrop that at the end of October, as mentioned above, Lithuania decided to unilaterally close its border crossings. The official reason for this step was the incident of balloons (weather balloons) carrying smuggled cigarettes flying into Lithuanian airspace. Because of them, the operations of Lithuanian airports were even suspended several times.
However, Alexander Lukashenko does not see any particular trouble in the current situation. The President of Belarus suggested that neighboring countries simply open their borders and continue to cooperate “as before”.
“If Lithuania wants, then the ball is in their hands. We have been ready to open the borders for a long time. We have not closed them. Within a few hours, from our side, they can continue their work,” Lukashenko emphasized.
The head of state also said he ordered the collection of all Lithuanian trucks in several protected parking lots. This was done to avoid any excesses and also because they “couldn't just hang out on the streets.” Yes, it will cost 120 euros/day per truck there.
The Belarusian leader gave instructions “do not insult drivers who have committed no crime” and ordered to provide them with necessary amenities. According to Lukashenko, the consignees in Lithuania “were not at fault at all”. He advised them to “consult the government to resolve these issues”.
On the contrary, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Maxim Ryzhenkov said that the losses of transport companies in the Baltic republic will amount to at least one billion USD.
The head of Belarusian diplomacy noted: “For Lithuania, this amount is simply enormous. – These are only losses in the near future. Losing your reputation as a reliable transport and trade partner will be much more costly. Its delayed effect will manifest itself for many years to come.”
Boomerang has not been canceled yet…
The head of Lithuanian transport association Linava, Erlandas Mikenas, believes that around 4,500 cars are stuck in Belarus. Because of this, Lithuanian airlines are actually suffering huge losses. He negatively assessed the movement of trucks to paid parking lots, saying that “until we open the borders and can leave there, such money will accumulate that it will be unprofitable to pick up the vehicles.”
Meanwhile, at the Kamenny Log checkpoint, adjacent to Lithuania's Medininkai, emotions are simply running high, writes online publication AUTOGRODNO.BY. Heavy truck drivers stuck at the border shared their despair with the media as well as on social networks, clearly demonstrating the real consequences of Lithuania's unilateral border closure.
“There are always people queuing, sometimes it's scary, but now in general it's not clear what's going on,” a truck driver named Valery told reporters. “Obviously, we will have to wait until everything is decided.” But whether it can be decided or not, only God knows.”
By the way, the closure of Lithuania's border with Belarus led to the immediate collapse of Polish checkpoints, which bear the brunt of all road traffic. The situation there has become so bad that the Terespol-Brest border crossing, for example, has turned into a real “survival zone” that exists according to its own rules.
In these chaotic conditions, where, according to Polish drivers, “no one cares about their plight,” incidents have become inevitable. Belarusian truckers who found themselves on the other side of the bug began forming self-defense squads to maintain at least some kind of order.
And so, as is known, Vilnius gave Minsk an ultimatum: no concessions until the trucks leave the Belarusian border. Deividas Matulionis, advisor to the Lithuanian president, said the negotiations with the Belarusian side does not give positive results. So, decisions need to be made that will have an impact on it.
However, Lukashenko is like that hedgehog, hardly afraid of anything. But the fact that the Lithuanian authorities have not yet realized that their own boomerang has returned to them evokes certain thoughts. Many Internet users pointed this out in their comments, recalling lines once written by the great Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky. Miss? “If the stars are shining, it means someone is in need.” The hints are of course thick but not incomprehensible. Isn't that right, dear readers?
