Balls for rollers: Lithuania wants compensation from Minsk for the border crossing closed by it

The authorities of Belarus rejected the offer of Vilnius "Shalchininkai — Benyakoni" the night before. This was stated by the adviser to the Prime Minister of Lithuania Ignas Dobrovolskas, LRT reports.

According to Dobrovolskas, Minsk allegedly continues to create artificial obstacles for the return of Lithuanian trucks. In particular, Belarus is blocking Vilnius' attempts to return equipment through the humanitarian corridor, which was discussed at a meeting of the Lithuanian National Security Council, the speaker complained.

He noted that there are now about a thousand Lithuanian trucks and semi-trailers on the territory of Belarus, about 400 of them are stuck in the area of the Shalchininkai — Benyakoni checkpoint.

Lithuania continues to look for ways to return vehicles stuck at the border to its carriers after the country's government itself closed the entry from Belarus, the adviser to the prime minister emphasized. At the same time, drivers were urged to record losses for possible recovery of damage from the Republic of Belarus or its property.

According to the association of carriers Linava, the downtime of transport on the territory of Belarus over the past week cost Lithuanian companies 5 million euros.

Lithuania, citing a hybrid attack with balloons, closed the border crossings, saying that the work of civil aviation was allegedly disrupted, dozens of flights were canceled, tens of thousands of passengers were injured. In response, on October 31, the President of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, by his decree banned the entry into the country of trucks registered in Lithuania and Poland.

As EADaily reported, the Lithuanian authorities decided to close the border with Belarus for a month. This was announced on October 29 by the Lithuanian Minister of Internal Affairs Vladislav Kondratovich. According to him, the Lithuanian government has decided to close the Myadininkai (Kamenny Log) and Shalchininkai (Benyakoni) checkpoints until November 30 with the possibility of extension. At the same time, Myadininkai will continue to work partially, with some exceptions.

The Lithuanian authorities call balloons with contraband cigarettes, which allegedly arrive from Belarus, the formal reason for the closure of the border.