„We have the opportunity and plan to limit, or even completely close the border, but we must do this not for political reasons, but by assessing the security context,“ M. Sinkevičius told journalists on Wednesday.
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„Today we do not have such indications from military intelligence. Relations with Belarusians are, of course, tense due to various provocations and instrumentalized migration, but now to politically motivatedly address these issues, I think, would be inappropriate,“ he said.
As BNS wrote, conservative parliamentarian Arvydas Anušauskas urged the Lithuanian government to join Latvia’s plans to ban bus services to Russia and Belarus.
Latvia’s Ministry of Transport announced on Monday that it had submitted draft amendments to the Road Transport Act to the government, proposing to completely stop passenger transport to Russia and Belarus from next year.
According to the proposed amendments, regular and irregular international passenger transport by bus to Russia and Belarus would be prohibited, as well as transit through Latvian territory to these countries.
In turn, the Prime Minister also drew attention to the political situation in Latvia, where elections will be held in October, and said that more political decisions might be made in the country because of this.
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„Elections will be held in Latvia in October, probably that is why there are quite a lot and various political topics and proposals,“ said M. Sinkevičius.
According to A. Anušauskas, there are currently 29 valid permits in the official list of the Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration for regular passenger transport between Lithuania and Russia and Belarus or transit through Lithuania. 17 of them are routes from Vilnius to Minsk, Grodno, Gomel, Lida, and Ashmyany.
Member of the Seimas National Security and Defense Committee, social democrat Tomas Martinaitis, insisted that before making any decision, assessments should be awaited from the State Security Department and the State Border Guard Service regarding the real threat, from the Ministry of Transport regarding the impact on carriers, and from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the possibility of coordinated action together with Latvia and Poland.
He also pointed out that restrictions could encourage routes to move through Poland, so a regional, not unilateral, solution is needed.
Meanwhile, Minister of Transport Juras Taminskas said that Lithuania does not intend to follow Latvia’s example for now, and the decision must be “evaluated soberly.”
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