An archive photo
MINSK, 17 March (BelTA) – The Belarusian side will make a decision regarding Lithuanian-registered trucks and inform its partners in Lithuania and Poland accordingly, Belarusian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Sekreta told journalists following a meeting between Belarusian Prime Minister Aleksandr Turchin and Lithuanian and Polish carriers on 17 March, BelTA has learned.
Lithuanian and Polish road carriers applied to the Belarusian president with a request to help resolve the situation with the Lithuanian-registered trucks. Foreign carriers have essentially been abandoned to the whims of fate by their own governments. Due to politically motivated decisions by their governments, including transit restrictions and the closure of border checkpoints, about 1,000 trucks with Lithuanian registration have found themselves blocked and deprived of the opportunity to work normally on their usual routes. The Belarusian president considered their request and, guided by humanitarian grounds, instructed the prime minister to meet with the carriers and listen to their position.
“All those who wished to speak were given our full attention. Each entrepreneur has their own situation, their own number of vehicles and rolling stock. It was important for us to hear this because we have no official channel of communication with Vilnius and were unable to obtain relevant information. Therefore, it was decided to consider and comprehensively study the appeals, and to receive these people in order to learn the situation firsthand. Naturally, Belarusian operating organizations that are hosting these vehicles, semi-trucks, trailers and semi-trailers on their lots have incurred certain costs. Those costs will need to be covered. The decision on the amount of payment and how it will be calculated will be made after a report is prepared,” Igor Sekreta said. “Decisions will be made in accordance with the established procedure, and we will inform our partners in Lithuania and Poland accordingly.”
The deputy foreign minister noted that ever since the situation began four months ago, numerous attempts have been made to resolve the problem through political and diplomatic means. “Countless attempts were made to establish contact with the Lithuanian side. Moreover, not only through Minsk-Vilnius channels, but also during international forums, we made it perfectly clear that we were open to dialogue and an exchange of views. For some reason, however, Vilnius has always seen and continues to see any political contact as its own defeat,” he stated.
Photos by Sergei Sheleg/BelTA
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