President Lukashenko threatened to confiscate Lithuanian trucks. They got stuck at the border in Belarus

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko threatened on Monday to confiscate more than 1,000 Lithuanian trucks stuck in Belarus after Lithuania closed the border due to repeated airspace violations by smuggler balloons from Belarus. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AP agency.

At the end of October, the Lithuanian government decided to close the border with Belarus for at least one month due to the balloon incidents. The government in Vilnius claims that they are released by cigarette smugglers and that Minsk does not intervene against them. They also closed the airport in Vilnius several times for balloons.

Hybrid war

Lukashenko described Lithuania’s decision to close the border as part of a hybrid war against Belarus. As part of retaliatory measures, he signed a regulation banning the movement of Polish and Lithuanian trucks and tractors on Belarusian territory until the end of 2027.

The Belarusian authorities refuse to open a border corridor exclusively for the evacuation of stranded Lithuanian trucks and demand that Lithuania reopen the border. On Monday, the Belarusian president announced that there were up to 1,200 Lithuanian trucks on his country’s territory and warned that the authorities could seize them or even confiscate them if Vilnius did not reverse its decision.

Warning to truck drivers

“If they do not do so in the next few days, we will decide in accordance with our laws – up to confiscation of the vehicles,” Lukashenko said, adding that the trucks were moved to paid parking lots because “they cannot just stand on the roads.”

In an interview with Radio Sloboda (RFE/RL), Erlandas Mikénas from the Lithuanian National Association of Road Transporters pointed out that truck drivers who are stuck in Belarus are feeling increasingly “tired and angry”. He also pointed out that some transported goods could spoil in the meantime.