Изображение: Пул первого
Lithuanian trucks remain in Belarus because the Lithuanian leadership is unwilling to engage in constructive dialogue at the political level. This was stated by State Secretary of the Security Council Alyaksandr Valfovich after reporting to Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
As previously reported, during his briefing Valfovich spoke about how he met with truck drivers over the weekend. More than 1,800 vehicles belonging to Lithuanian carriers remain in Belarus. Alyaksandr Lukashenka responded by saying that the foreign ministries of the two countries should “sort out” the problem.
“They remain here for only one reason: the Lithuanian leadership does not want to engage in constructive dialogue at the political level. In October alone, the Lithuanian authorities closed the state border four or five times, for periods ranging from 3 to 17 hours, without any notification, violating all international norms and standards. Belarus supports the border functioning as it should: steadily, stably, predictably, and openly,” BelTA quoted him as saying.
He described how he met with the drivers.
“Of course, people are suffering, people are concerned. The president thinks about this constantly. I was instructed to examine what problems they have, to explain the situation to them — that Belarus did not provoke this situation, that it is not Belarus’s fault they remained here. Belarus is ready for constructive dialogue with all its neighbors at the political level. This is the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Valfovich said.
He also claimed that the drivers allegedly reacted with understanding and even thanked Lukashenka.
“You need to talk to people. They responded with gratitude to the conversation and conveyed words of thanks to our president. Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka was informed of this as well,” Valfovich said.
“The drivers were asked whether they liked spending 10–12 days in queues. Of course not. But this is not the fault of the Belarusian side. Belarus supports the border functioning as it should: steadily, stably, predictably, and openly, in full compliance with all legal norms. We stand for this dialogue and for this functioning of the state border,” the state secretary added.
It should be noted that despite the reopening of the Benyakoni–Šalčininkai and Kamenny Loh–Medininkai crossings on 20 November, the trucks that remained in Belarus at the time the border was closed at the beginning of the month still cannot leave.