Lithuania Stops Cooperation with Belarus Border

Due to current geopolitical conditions, the Lithuanian government decided to end the agreement with Belarus.

According to SchengenVisaInfo.com, the Ministry of the Interior of Lithuania stated that the decision was made due to the political situation in Belarus following the election in the summer 2020.

This decision was taken by the government after taking into consideration the political situation of Belarus following the 2020 elections.

“Implementation of a bilateral intergovernmental agreement with Belarus is not possible in the current geopolitical situation and will not be possible in the near future,” Minister of the Interior Agnė Bilotaitė explained.

 

According to the Ministry in October 2020, payments to Belarus and its partner countries for ongoing projects under the cross-border cooperation program were also stopped by the Lithuanian government.

Moreover, the order of Minister Bilotaita has stopped all activities related to cooperation between Belarusian institutions or organisations since the start of the conflict in Ukraine.

Last September, Lithuania presented a proposal to conclude bilateral international and inter-institutional deals with Belarus.

Minister Bilotaite stated that Belarus continues to use immigrant as a tool for political pressure.
Lithuania stressed that it supports its army and other military forces despite the fact that the pressure from the Belarusian regime on the state border is not decreasing.

The Interior Minister announced this month that Belarus is looking at tighter entry restrictions for its citizens.

Lithuania already bans the issuance Schengen visas, as well as the entry of Russian citizens holding Schengen visas. Belarus citizens may soon be subject to similar restrictions.

At the same time, at the start of July last year, the Lithuanian authorities decided to extend the current state of emergency along the entire border section with Belarus. This was in effect until December 16, 2022.

Minister Bilotaite explained that such a measure was necessary in order to prevent any other hybrid attack by Russia and Belarus against the Republic of Lithuania.

 

Source: schengenvisainfo.com