MINSK, 17 March (BelTA) - Foreign operators have appealed to Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko to resolve the situation with Lithuanian- registered trucks stuck in Belarus, Belarusian Prime Minister Aleksandr Turchin said as he met with Lithuanian and Polish carriers, BelTA has learned.
“Your appeals addressed to the president of our country regarding ways out of the situation with Lithuanian-registered trucks have been received. As you are well aware, four months ago, the Lithuanian leadership, in violation of all international norms, closed the borders with our country. One of the consequences of this step was the impossibility for trucks to exit towards Lithuania,” said Aleksandr Turchin.
The head of state reviewed the carriers’ appeal and, guided by humanitarian considerations, instructed the prime minister to meet with the road transport operators and hear their position. Belarus is ready to consider the current situation in order to find possible ways to resolve it.
Foreign carriers have been left to fend for themselves by their governments. Due to politically motivated decisions by their own authorities, including transit restrictions and the closure of border checkpoints, around 1,000 trucks with Lithuanian registration have become stranded and unable to operate normally on their usual routes.
“Throughout these four months, we have proposed to our colleagues from the Republic of Lithuania that we meet and hold negotiations to work out measures to resolve this and other issues in bilateral relations. Unfortunately, the Lithuanian government apparently has more important matters to attend to than dealing with the problems of its own businesses,” said Aleksandr Turchin.
Despite the openly unfriendly policy of neighboring states, Belarus is taking a constructive position and intends to take into account the interests of all parties involved as much as possible, the prime minister emphasized. “Despite the possibility of confiscating the vehicles, Belarus certainly has no intention or desire to resort to that. Our desire is to reach a constructive agreement and find a way out of the current situation. During the recent visit by representatives of the Lithuanian association, they had the opportunity to see for themselves that all vehicles are in secured parking lots and are all in good working order. The owner of these parking lots is a commercial organization. Our position is also clear: the costs incurred by the company must be compensated,” he said.
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