Amid tensions between Belarus and Poland, now Lithuania has decided to temporarily close two of its six points with the Russian ally later this week amid fears over the presence of Russia-linked Wagner mercenaries in Minsk.
The Lithuanian government on Wednesday said that the crossings at Tverecius and Sumskas will be closed, while vehicular movement will be diverted to the border checkpoint of Medininkai, the largest of the country's six checkpoints with Belarus.
"The main goal is to temporarily suspend operations at these two points from Aug 18," said Deputy Minister of Transport Agnė Vaiciukeviciūte, adding that border control officers can be directed to other points. The move comes amid concerns of growing presence of Wagner mercenaries at the Belarusian border.
Rustamas Liubajevas, commander of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service, said that at some of nearly 4,500 Wagner fighters in Belarus are stationed near Lithuanian and Polish borders. Additionally, the neighbouring country of Latvia has also mobilised additional border guards to strengthen border protection, as per local reports.
Similar to Poland, the Lithuanian and Latvian border to Belarus have detected illegal attempts of border crossing, a phenomenon that has been termed as 'hybrid warfare' by Belarusian authorities who are believed to be trying to deliberately organise the flow of illegal immigrants.
Lithuania is a Western ally and a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) that has strongly backed Ukraine in the latter's ongoing war against Russia. It has also provided refuge to those fleeing persecution in Belarus and Russia.
More than 11,200 people have been denied entry to Lithuania from Belarus since early 2022, said the country's State Border Service. In 2023, nearly 1,543 have been denied entry in Lithuanian territory.
The three NATO member-countries - Poland, Lithuania and Latvia - are increasing border controls after thousands of Wagner mercenaries arrived in Belarus after a failed mutiny against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was a key figure in ending the armed rebellion started by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Poland has deployed thousands of troops to its border with Belarus amid heightened tensions to deter an attack from the side of Minsk.
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