Trucks Do Not Disappear at Midnight: Lithuania Opened the Border, but Stuck Trucks in Belarus Did Not Appear 0 10

“I really hope that this delay, after we opened two border crossing points, is purely technical, when certain signatures need to be put in place, and the carriers will be able to return home. I really hope - if this does not happen, we will think about what to do next,” the Prime Minister told reporters on Thursday.

According to her, there are currently no signals that carriers are being deliberately held back.

“Currently, there are indeed no such signals, and we see that this is a technical-level problem. Just as when we made the decision, the border crossings were actually opened within a day. So far, this is the case, but if there are other signals, we will make appropriate decisions,” Ruginiene said.

She confirmed that the trucks were not being held up by the Lithuanian side, and after the decision to close the borders, they were given the opportunity to return, but the Belarusian side did not let them through.

The BNS agency reported that at midnight on Thursday, Lithuania opened two border crossings with Belarus. However, trucks from Lithuanian carriers have not yet passed through them.

The Secretary General of the International Transport and Logistics Alliance (TTLA), Povilas Drizias, said that, according to his information, representatives from Minsk are still deciding how to allow Lithuanian transport to leave the parking lots and permit it to pass through Belarus.

The President of the Lithuanian National Association of Road Carriers Linava, Erlandas Mikėnas, informed BNS that, according to his data, several trucks entered Lithuania through the “Šalčininkai” border crossing point, but most are still not being allowed into Lithuania.

According to him, the parking payment procedures at the parking lots continue, and the previously established electronic queue has been canceled.