Chairman of Belarus’ State Border Committee: decisions made by Lithuania negatively impact bilateral relations

The decisions made by the Lithuanian side negatively impact cross-border, economic, political and general neighbourly relations, making life difficult for the people of both countries, Konstantin Molostov, the Chairman of the State Border Committee of Belarus, told reporters after his today’s report to President Aleksandr Lukashenko

The Chairman of the State Border Committee highlighted that Belarus’ President Aleksandr Lukashenko is fully aware of the situation unfolding at the state border and the surrounding border area in general, “Today, in my report, I shared conclusions drawn from evaluating the operational situation along the entire border of our republic. I reported on the ongoing work of the border guards. Additionally, I provided details regarding the situation on the Belarusian-Lithuanian border section.”

Mr. Molotov recalled that from early 2024 until October of this year, only two out of five road border crossing points with Lithuania were operational: Kamenny Log (Medininkai) and Benyakoni (Salcininkai), “In October, the Lithuanian side repeatedly and unilaterally suspended the passage of people and vehicles at the border crossing points. Starting from October 26th, Lithuania completely halted the crossing of people and vehicles at the Salcininkai (Benyakoni) checkpoint. On October 30th, we received an official notification from Lithuania regarding the government’s decision to impose restrictions on the movement of individuals and vehicles at the Kamenny Log (Medininkai) checkpoint, mainly affecting Belarusian and Lithuanian citizens. However, no timely notification was provided through border liaison channels or the Foreign Ministry, which contradicts the interstate agreement on border crossing points. Later, Lithuania repeatedly proposed through border liaison channels to temporarily resume operations at the crossing points under various conditions.”

The Chairman of the State Border Committee pointed out that the current situation goes beyond the jurisdiction of both countries’ border agencies and needs to be addressed at a high governmental level, “Undoubtedly, the decisions made by the Lithuanian side negatively impact cross-border, economic, political and general neighbourly relations, making life difficult for the people of both Belarus and Lithuania.”