Lithuania Denounces Border Traffic Agreement With Belarus

On June 30, the Lithuanian Seimas denounced the agreement between Lithuania and Belarus on cross-border travel for residents of border areas, which had never entered into force.

The agreement provided that residents of border areas in Belarus and Lithuania could cross the border using special local border traffic permits and stay in the neighbouring country’s border area for up to 90 days within a six-month period, the Seimas press service reported.

Lithuania ratified the agreement in 2011 and officially notified the Belarusian side, but the document never entered into force because Belarus did not send Lithuania notification that it had completed its internal procedures.

Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs concluded that, as the agreement had not entered into force within 15 years of being signed, it had become irrelevant for both parties and should therefore be denounced.