Фото: ГТК
The European Commission attempted to help Lithuania recover its trucks from Belarus, but the Belarusian side said that the stranded vehicles are a matter solely between Belarus and Lithuania. This follows from a press release by Belarus’s Permanent Mission in Geneva on a meeting between Deputy Foreign Minister Ihar Sakreta and Tatiana Molcean, UN Deputy Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe.
Sakreta drew Molcean’s attention to what he described as “unlawful attempts by the European Commission to interfere in a bilateral issue between Belarus and Lithuania concerning the situation with Lithuanian trucks that have been in Belarus since October last year.”
Sakreta also said that the European Commission is failing to fulfil its obligations under the European Agreement concerning the Work of Crews of Vehicles Engaged in International Road Transport.
In addition, the deputy head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry complained about the Polish fence on the border in the Białowieża Forest. Belarus believes that Poland has violated environmental protection agreements of the UN Economic Commission for Europe and expects “adequate decisions” from the relevant bodies on this issue.
The meeting also discussed the implementation of the Russian-Belarusian initiative to develop the Eurasian Railway Transport Corridor No. 1 and Belarus’s participation in the project activities of the UN Economic Commission for Europe.
It should be recalled that after Belarus for several months launched weather balloons into Lithuanian airspace, Lithuanian authorities closed the Medininkai and Šalčininkai border checkpoints in October 2025, while keeping the option for Lithuanian trucks to leave Belarus. Minsk did not allow Lithuanian trucks to cross the border and later banned their movement within the country. Carriers were ordered to leave their vehicles at special sites for a fee. Lithuania reopened the border in November 2025, but Belarus still refuses to release the trucks.
According to the latest data from the Lithuanian transport association Linava, 1,071 vehicles are stranded in Belarus, including 575 semi-trailers and 496 tractor units. Individual companies may be losing hundreds of thousands of euros, while the total losses of the sector are estimated at millions of euros.