Two of the six checkpoints (checkpoints) at Shumskas and Tveryachyus on Lithuania’s border with Belarus have been closed. Passage through these passes is suspended from Friday midnight Moscow time. TASS writes about it.
Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite announced that Vilnius has taken such measures in connection with the fight against smuggling and new security threats.
“First of all, it is necessary to strengthen the fight against smuggling. There is no X-ray device for effective control in closed passages,” he said.
The second reason is the fears of the Lithuanian authorities about the presence in Belarus of the private military company Wagner, which allegedly may try to enter Lithuania through local checkpoints. Trucks are not allowed to pass through the checkpoint.
“We see the deployment of Wagner in Belarus as a threat that needs to be addressed,” Bilotite said.
Reinforced concrete blocks and metal-plated barbed wire used by the military, called accordions, were delivered to these checkpoints. All this was used to close the roads and approaches to the checkpoint.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte considers the checkpoint infrastructure in the Belarusian direction unnecessary. The authorities did not specify the duration for the suspension of transit work in Shumsk and Tveryachyus.
Previously in Poland arrested Belarusian suspected of spying for Russia.