“The leader of the ruling “Nemunas Aušra” party, Remigijus
Žemaitaitis, criticizes the government’s decision to close the border with
Belarus – according to him, this is how the state acts on the principle of
“serfdom” and causes more damage not to the Belarusian regime, but to the
Lithuanian population and business.
The border has been closed until the end of the month after
an influx of smuggled weather balloons from Belarus.
As a result, thousands of trucks registered in Lithuania
have been stuck at the border, but Belarus on Saturday refused to temporarily
open the Šalčininkai border checkpoint (PKP) and thus create an evacuation
corridor.
“I think it is the principle of a serf – to harm your own
state and your own people, when you close border checkpoints and do not talk,
before closing, do not discuss with businessmen, people who worked around
Belarus, in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan or anywhere else where transport used to
travel,” – R. Žemaitaitis told journalists.
“The losses have been enormous, trust in the state has
probably fallen to the lowest level. (…) I would like to wish that the
Government, when making one or another decision, would consult with social
partners,” – the politician assured.
According to R. Žemaitaitis, when coordinating the political
response to the actions of the Belarusian regime, there was a “miscommunication”
between Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys and Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė –
the minister is allegedly ignoring the Prime Minister’s wishes to return the
transporters stuck at the border.
“A very interesting political scenario and political field
are taking shape. The coming week will probably be very heated, we will see who
is right in this story – the Prime Minister or the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
But I think that the Minister should not have a different position than the
Government itself,” said R. Žemaitaitis.
He doubts whether the proposed countermeasures would be
effective
As the Prime Minister’s advisor Ignas Dobrovolskas stated on
Saturday, the Government could consider a long-term restriction on the
transportation of Belarusian goods by train through Lithuania as additional
countermeasures.
R. Žemaitaitis doubted whether such measures would be an
effective response to the situation.
“We can ban it, but the question is – what will we achieve,”
he said.
“This is the principle of serfdom, when you do not have your
own foreign politicians, and through other politicians or politicians of
another state you try to solve your problems and your inaction, this is, I
think, something to criticize,” added R. Žemaitaitis, referring to the
proposals of the Conservative leader Laurynas Kasčiūnas to ask for help from US
President Donald Trump to resolve the situation.
According to the Prime Minister’s advisor, Lithuania is
encouraging stranded carriers to collect information about the losses they are
experiencing, which, after assessing legal possibilities, could be recovered
from Belarus or its assets.
R. Žemaitaitis criticized that Lithuania would not be
legally able to demand compensation for such losses.
“The Constitution does not provide for this, there is no
such possibility and there is no way to demand compensation for damage – these
are commercial relations, not state relations, so whoever suggests this, I
would suggest that they consider on what basis they would like to demand that
money from Belarus,” he said.
“If you plan to close the transportation of those Belarusian
goods through the Kena checkpoint, it turns out that Belarus will also gain the
right to demand compensation from Lithuania,” added R. Žemaitaitis.
After Lithuania closed its border with Belarus for a month
due to smuggled balloons from Belarus, about a thousand Lithuanian-registered
trucks were stuck in this country, 400 of them at the Šalčininkai border
checkpoint.
The Prime Minister’s advisor stated that communication with
the Belarusian side regarding the return of the trucks to Lithuania is
complicated, and Belarus is escalating the situation with its actions.
ELTA reminds that in October, meteorological balloons
carrying contraband from Belarus were recorded several times, disrupting
airport operations.
Taking into account the situation, the Government has
decided to close the last Medininkai and Šalčininkai border checkpoints with
Belarus for a month, until midnight on November 30.
The movement through the Šalčininkai checkpoint has been
completely stopped, while the activity of the Medininkai checkpoint has been
limited to certain exceptions.
As previously reported, A. Lukashenko signed a decree at the
end of October, which banned the movement of trucks and tractors registered in
some EU countries, including Lithuania and Poland, on the territory of Belarus.”
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