Piracy in Lithuanian-style

Lithuania has also moved on to raider seizure of other people's property. Under the guise of tightening sanctions, the neighboring republic, where cars, purchased in the US stayed in transit, seized the property of Belarusians. It demands a mythical declaration that does not exist in nature, and also collects bribes per day. Thousands of cars are stuck in the port. Car owners are desperate: no cars, no money. They are writing petitions. One of the victims has declared a hunger strike.

The Klaipeda port turned out to be a very unreliable partner, since the authorities can take away any property, any client. 17 fire trucks purchased by Zimbabwe from our country were also raider seized by the transit country.

Pirates of the Baltic Sea are stealing property from Belarusians. By rubber-stamping sanctions decrees, they are officially unleashing the Baltic raiders. We are not fighting with people, they said, only with "regimes" and they are taking away what belongs to ordinary people. Thousands of cars are still in the Klaipeda port. The Lithuanian authorities are still not going to give them back to their owners. And for each day of downtime, they demand from 5 to 20 euros for parking.

The cars in the Klaipeda port parking lot mostly belong to Belarusians. They went by sea from the US and then in transit through Lithuania, but were seized.

Another way is possible - on a "long circle"- by an alternative route, for example, through Georgia. But the owners will have to pay an extra 5 thousand euros for the alternative route. However, the main and important thing is that a significant part of these seized cars were purchased before the Lithuanians tightened sanctions, and a corridor should have been provided for these cars.

Grigory Alexievich, car owner:

"I officially declare that I am starting a hunger strike in protest of the illegal detention of cars belonging to Belarusian citizens by the customs authorities of the Republic of Lithuania. These cars and my car were purchased before the introduction of sanctions against the Republic of Belarus. Namely, on July 1, 2024. And the fact that our cars are detained, and they constantly want to take the maximum amount of money from us, I consider it blatant lawlessness".

At the beginning of the summer, Lithuania once again decided to tighten sanctions. And almost everything that went from America or Korea turned out banned. In order to pick up their cars, the owners must provide some mythical declaration from the manufacturer - that is, from America, that the iron horse will not travel on Russian roads. Where to get such a declaration is a mystery, especially considering that these cars were officially disposed of in the States. Belarusians have created a petition, saying that due to the actions of the Lithuanian authorities, they were left without property and without money.

As for the Lithuanian authorities and economic losses, experts estimate that annual losses amount to almost $ 1 billion, primarily due to problems in the transit industry, the operation of the Klaipeda port and a decrease in exports. Thus, another nail is driven into the economy, including a reputational one. The Klaipeda port is a very unreliable partner, since Lithuania can take away any property or client in this port by a political decision, even without having any rights to it, being a transit country.

Back in March 2024, 17 fire trucks purchased by Zimbabwe from Belarus were stolen in the same way, again in the Klaipeda port. Now Lithuania is allegedly planning to give them to Ukraine. Typical piracy. International trade standards are completely violated. And the ethical side? These cars were intended to fight fires, and therefore save lives in the African country.

The Latvian authorities intend to follow the example of their Baltic brother. Cars in this country, if they have Belarusian "numbers", are promised to be confiscated from October 31.