MINSK, 20 November (BelTA) - The Lithuanian side has once again demonstrated disregard for its international legal obligations, spokesperson for the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ruslan Varankov told the media, BelTA has learned.
“We’d like to recall that the decision to close the border was taken unilaterally by the Lithuanian side and was purely political in nature. It was not taken within the procedures or timeframes specified by existing international agreements. For example, under the bilateral agreement on border crossing points, official notification of such actions must be sent 1-5 days in advance depending on the situation,” Ruslan Varankov noted.
“The current decision to resume operations at the border checkpoints Salcininkai (Benyakoni on the Belarusian side) and Medininkai (Kamenny Log on the Belarusian side) was again taken in violation of established procedures,” the spokesman stressed. “Thus, the Lithuanian side has once again shown disregard for its international legal obligations.”
According to him, the risk of a new unilateral border closure by Vilnius remains, as Lithuanian authorities openly state. This, he warned, could have serious consequences for ordinary citizens and legal entities.
“In this regard, the Belarusian proposal to hold consultations at the level of the foreign ministries of the two countries remains relevant, in order to develop a sustainable solution for the functioning of border crossing checkpoints on the Belarus-Lithuania border and to prevent similar situations in the future. For us, the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Lithuania, the border should not divide, but unite peoples! This is our position. Everything depends on the Lithuanian authorities,” the official representative of the Belarusian MFA concluded.
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