Vilnius has issued an ultimatum to Minsk: No concessions until the trucks leave Belarus

Lithuania should not make concessions to Belarus until Minsk releases from the country about a thousand Lithuanian trucks stuck in the republic due to Vilnius closing the border. This was stated by adviser to the Lithuanian President Deivydas Matulenis.

"There is a service of border commissioners that keeps in touch with the Belarusian side, and I would just like to wish the government to solve this problem. But, in my opinion, there is no point in making concessions today," he said.

At the same time, Matulenis said that the problem arose because of balloons allegedly launched from the territory of Belarus.

"It is obvious that this is a hybrid attack, and Lithuania was forced to take concrete actions… If there had been at least a little goodwill on the Belarusian side, this problem would have been solved long ago — it's a matter of a few days," Matulenis said.

The adviser also noted that negotiations with the Belarusian side are not yielding results.

"The president already said yesterday: talking gives nothing. We really need to make decisions that will have an impact on Belarus," the presidential adviser believes.

At the same time, due to the closure of the border in Lithuania, tensions in the transport sector have already become noticeable. On November 11, the Presidium of the Lithuanian Association of Automobile Carriers (LINAVA) demanded that the authorities begin "at least a minimal diplomatic dialogue with Minsk" as soon as possible. In its statement, the Association said that the decision of the Lithuanian government to close the border with Belarus has become a tough economic blockade for carriers. Therefore, it requires the opening of at least one border crossing point, ensuring the protection and evacuation of carriers, as well as the preparation of measures to compensate for losses.

In addition, the head of LINAVA, Erlandas Mikenas, pointed out that because of the current situation at the border, carriers are angry, and did not rule out that truck drivers could block roads in Lithuania and hold other protests. According to him, the decision to block roads in Lithuania may be taken at the congress on November 12.

"This decision does not depend on me, tomorrow we will have a general meeting of members — the congress, and we feel the mood of the carriers. There are proposals to block roads and similar actions," Mikenas said.

On October 29, the Lithuanian authorities closed the road border with Belarus for a month. Traffic through the checkpoint "Shalchininkai" ("Benyakoni") was completely suspended, and the activities of the checkpoint "Myadininkai" ("Stone Log") are limited to exceptions. As a result, thousands of Lithuanian trucks and trailers ended up in Belarus. At the same time, Minsk stated that they were ready for negotiations to solve this problem.