VORONOVO DISTRICT, 25 October (BelTA) - Lithuania closed traffic through the road checkpoints on the Belarusian-Lithuanian border again last night. Several hundred trucks and passenger cars are stuck waiting at the Benyakoni checkpoint (adjacent to the Lithuanian Šalčininkai), BelTA has learned.
75-year-old Nikolai is returning to Lithuania from a visit with his daughter and grandson in Belarus. He arrived at the border at 10 am yesterday and is still waiting. “I left Brest at four in the morning and slept in the car. It's difficult, and it's upsetting. A ‘great’ journey it turned out to be,” the man said.
Ivan is on his way to Moldova and, just like everyone else stuck at the border, he is frustrated. “All our plans are ruined. Completely. We hope they'll open the border at noon. What else can we do?” he wondered.
According to the State Border Committee, on 24 October at 9:40 pm Lithuania unilaterally stopped allowing vehicles to pass through the Medininkai (Kamenny Log) and Šalčininkai (Benyakoni) checkpoints. No official notification was received through border representative channels or the operational duty service. Furthermore, Lithuania did not report any violations of the state border, including in its airspace. As of 9:00 am on 25 October, 890 vehicles were waiting to enter the European Union in front of the Medininkai (Kamenny Log) checkpoint, and 815 were waiting in front of the Šalčininkai (Benyakoni) checkpoint.
According to the State Customs Committee, Lithuania stated yesterday that the border crossing points would be opened at 12:00 on 25 October.
Photos by Leonid Shcheglov
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