Closed checkpoints in political games: why barriers on border with Belarus have been raised again

Lithuania has resumed road traffic with Belarus, and Poland has opened two major border crossings. A total of seven of the 14 crossings on the border with the European Union are now operational.

The Kuznica Bialystok checkpoint was closed for over four years – longer than the Great Patriotic War lasted. The closed borders not only led to a transport blockade for European carriers but also to a redistribution of transit traffic between Poland and Lithuania. This resulted in multi-million dollar losses.

Good neighborly relations with these countries are still a long way off, but this gesture clearly demonstrates that closed borders are a dead end rather than an attempt to resolve the crisis.

The first drivers to cross the Belarusian-Lithuanian border after its reopening are not hiding their joy. For businesses, this is a newly opened road, for tourists, a favorite route, and for ordinary people, a reason to visit family and friends.

The border has long been a bargaining chip and an attempt at blackmail. Neighbors regularly closed the border under various pretexts. In late October, balloons carrying contraband cigarettes appeared at Vilnius Airport. Calling this a hybrid attack by Belarus, Lithuania closed the border. However, it's unclear how closing ground checkpoints could have stopped the airborne smuggling.

All this time, more than 1,000 Lithuanian trucks remained parked at the closed border, their carriers unable to transport their vehicles and cargo to the European Union, incurring colossal losses.

Oleg Tarasov, Vice President of the Lithuanian Carrier Association Linava:

"This transit transport business has been built over 35 years—since independence. I've been in the business since 1996. We've always operated without any problems until now. Lithuanian carriers have never had any complaints to the state. This has never happened. Belarus is a country that has created such a hub between East and West. So, we're not transporting Belarusian cargo."

Poland took advantage of the closed Lithuanian border by opening its closest border crossings to Lithuania this week—in Bobrovniki and Kuznica—in an attempt to divert some of the Lithuanian transit traffic to its territory. After this, keeping these routes closed was economically unprofitable for Lithuania. The border crossings did reopen, however, with numerous violations. "We remind you that the decision to close the border was made unilaterally by the Lithuanian side, was purely politicized, and was taken outside the procedures and timeframes stipulated by current international treaties. For example, in accordance with the bilateral agreement on state border crossing points, official notification of such actions must be sent in advance: from 1 to 5 days, depending on the situation," said Ruslan Varankov, Head of the Information and Digital Diplomacy Department and Press Secretary of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.

Ruslan Varankov:

"The current decision to reopen the Šalčininkai and Medininkai checkpoints (on the Belarusian side, the Benyakoni and Kamenny Log checkpoints) was once again made in violation of established procedures. Thus, the Lithuanian side has once again demonstrated its disregard for its international legal obligations."

The Foreign Ministry's press secretary also added that the risk of another unilateral border closure by Vilnius remains: "The Lithuanian authorities have stated this directly. This is fraught with serious consequences for ordinary citizens and legal entities."

During the entire time the Lithuanian border was closed, more than 1,000 trucks with Lithuanian license plates remained idle near the border in the Grodno region. A neighboring country abandoned its truckers with their vehicles and cargo, leaving the Belarusian side to sort things out. The trucks and semi-trailers were moved to guarded parking lots. When the truckers raised the question of compensation for the delay, the Baltic republic's Ministry of Transport stated that the losses incurred by Lithuanian truckers due to the closed border were their own risk, not the government's responsibility. They claimed the drivers were to blame; they had been repeatedly warned that traveling to Belarus and Russia could have unpredictable consequences.

Vladimir Kireyev, political scientist (Russia):

"Lithuania, which has invested heavily in transport and logistics infrastructure for trade with Belarus and Russia, is now being held hostage by its leadership and government. The money it has already invested in this transport and logistics system is now disappearing, it's already gone. Companies are suffering huge losses."

Besides Lithuanian carriers, tourists were also eagerly awaiting the border's opening. Incidentally, Lithuanians are the most frequent visitors to Belarus among EU citizens. Since the introduction of visa-free travel in 2022, the number has exceeded 650,000.

For many, the opening of the border is a significant factor.