Lithuania opens the border with Belarus ahead of schedule

Lithuania opens the border with Belarus. The relevant decision was made today, November 19, by the Lithuanian government.

The decision to resume transport links with Belarus from November 20 was announced by the Lithuanian Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovich.

"Taking into account the decisions of the National Security Commission of November 18 that circumstances have changed and the restrictions on crossing the state border established on October 29, 2025 ... are no longer needed, in order to ensure internal security, it is advisable to lift the restrictions established by the aforementioned resolution," he said.

At the same time, he noted that the opening PP "Myadininkai" and "Shalchininkai" should allow Lithuanian trucks to return from Belarus.

"There is no answer as such yet. Communication is going on, but... we'll talk about cars later… We need to solve this issue, but by other forces and by other means," Kondratovich said.

On October 29, the Government of Lithuania decided to close checkpoints on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border for a month until December 1. Traffic through the checkpoint "Shalchininkai" ("Benyakoni") was completely closed, and the activities of the checkpoint "Myadininkai" ("Stone Log") are limited to exceptions. On November 18, Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginene said that the National Security Commission recommended the government at a meeting on Wednesday to consider the possibility of opening the border.