Изображение: ГТК
President of the Lithuanian National Road Carriers Association Linava Erlandas Mikėnas said that Belarus allows only those freight trucks that entered the country after the border was reopened to return to Lithuania. Meanwhile, trucks that have been stuck in Belarus since the beginning of the month still cannot leave — Minsk demands consultations with Vilnius, LRT reported, citing BNS.
“Trucks re-entering from Lithuania are escorted from the Belarusian customs to Belarusian terminals, unloaded at the terminals and, if they carry cargo, reloaded and then escorted back to the Belarus–Lithuania border,” he said.
Lithuania temporarily closed the border with Belarus at the end of October due to the threat posed by meteorological balloons. In response, Minsk banned Lithuanian trucks from moving through its territory until the border checkpoints were reopened. Although Lithuania resumed border operations on Thursday, stranded carriers still cannot return.
Mikėnas earlier said he did not consider this to be malicious behavior by Minsk, as, to his knowledge, Belarus was processing documents for the passage of Lithuanian trucks.
On Saturday, he said that the newly issued document worsens working conditions for carriers but applies only to newly arriving trucks.
“Trailer swapping is no longer allowed. (…) We are allowed only to unload and load into the same trailer. This is a bad development because clients do not really want to reload cargo, and there is a risk of damage,” he said.
He added that similar conditions have long applied to Polish carriers, although mandatory escorting to terminals had not been in place before.
Mikėnas said that the ban on the return of stranded trucks is a political decision by Minsk.
“They are asking for consultations at the Foreign Ministry level. (…) They want guarantees that the border will not be closed again, as there have been strong statements from both the government and Lithuania,” he said.
According to the head of Linava, carriers stranded in Belarus currently have no real chance of returning.
“Only God knows,” Mikėnas said.
Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said on Friday that the situation only proves that the Minsk regime is conducting a hybrid attack on Lithuania. President Gitanas Nausėda urged the public not to dramatize the fact that Lithuanian trucks have not returned from Belarus, but promised to look into the reasons behind it.