After Poland, Lithuania closes border checkpoints with Belarus due to ‘geopolitical circumstances’

The Lithuanian government on Wednesday (Aug 16) temporarily shut down two of its six border checkpoints with Belarus amidst tensions over the presence of the Russian mercenary group Wagner in the eastern Europe country.

The government said that they are taking this decision due to “geopolitical circumstances.”

Tverecius and Sumskas crossing points, which were not used by commercial vehicles, will be closed and traffic will be diverted to the Medininkai border checkpoint, Lithuania announced.

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Lithuania is the second neighbour after Poland to shut border checkpoints with Belarus.

Poland’s move stemmed from the imprisonment of a journalist of Polish origin and the expulsions of Polish diplomats.

Last week, Poland announced that it will move 10,000 additional troops to the Belarus border to support existing guards.

'Temporary measure'

“The main goal is to temporarily suspend operations at these two points from August 18,” Deputy Minister of Transport Agnė Vaiciukeviciūte said, according to AP news agency.

He said that the decision would allow the officers to perform better border control checks at other points.

Once part of the Soviet Union, Lithuania declared its independence around 33 years ago. It now belongs to the West-led NATO and the European Union and has been a strong supporter of Ukraine.

The Baltic nation has also emerged as a refuge for those who have fled an authoritarian crackdown in neighbouring Belarus, a Putin ally, and increased repression in Russia.

Lithuania has been repeatedly warning its Western allies that Wagner mercenaries could disguise themselves as asylum seekers trying to cross Belarus’s borders with EU member states, or stage provocations involving refugees.

“It could be some groups of refugees, irregular migrants being transferred in order to cause some kind of unrest,” Lithuanian deputy interior minister Arnoldas Abramavičius said in July.

Though it is unknown how many Wagner troops are present in Belarus, the commander of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service, Rustamas Liubajevas, has pegged the number up to 4,500, with some of them stationed close to the Lithuanian and Polish borders.

Eastern European countries wary of Belarus

The other neighbouring country that has been observing the border situation is Lativa, which mobilised additional guards on Tuesday to strengthen the protection of the external state border, the LETA news agency said.

According to reports, the decision was taken due to the sharp increase in the hybrid threat at the Latvian-Belarusian border over the past days, when 96 attempts by people to cross the state border were detected, as well as the increased involvement of the Belarusian authorities in organising the flow of illegal immigrants.

Latvia believes that these are attempts by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko’s regime to push migrants across borders as a method of hybrid warfare against these countries.

(With inputs from agencies)

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