“With this Government decision, we are responding to recurring incidents involving smuggling balloons from the territory of Belarus, which pose a danger and disrupt civil aviation. This is not merely smuggling, and I can assure you that we will respond to any hostile hybrid activity against Lithuania, and if the incidents do not cease, our response will only become stricter. Nothing is more important than the safety of our people”, says Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė.
By Government resolution, it has been decided to suspend passage through the Šalčininkai state border crossing point until 30 November of this year. Passage through the Medininkai border control point will also be restricted.
This restriction at the Medininkai checkpoint on the border with Belarus will not apply to the following groups:
- persons holding diplomatic passports or transporting diplomatic mail;
- persons travelling with a simplified transit document issued under Council Regulation (EC) No 693/2003 of 14 April 2003 establishing a specific
- Facilitated Transit Document (FTD), a Facilitated Rail Transit Document (FRTD), and partially amending the Common Consular Instructions and the Common Manual;
- citizens of the Republic of Lithuania and their family members (as defined in Article 2(26) of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners) returning to the Republic of Lithuania;
- citizens of a Member State of the European Union, a State of the European Economic Area, the Swiss Confederation, the Principality of Andorra, the Principality of Monaco, the Republic of San Marino, the Holy See (Vatican City State), as well as Ukraine, and their family members (as defined in Article 2(4) of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners), as well as citizens of the North Atlantic Treaty countries and members of staff of the diplomatic missions or consular posts of the mentioned countries in the Republic of Belarus who are Belarusian citizens travelling for service reasons;
- foreigners returning to the Republic of Lithuania who hold a valid residence permit in the Republic of Lithuania;
- foreigners arriving in the Republic of Lithuania who hold humanitarian visas issued by diplomatic missions of the Republic of Lithuania;
- in other exceptional cases mediated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania.
By Government resolution, the State Border Guard Service has been instructed to organise and ensure the implementation of the provisions of this resolution, including the admission to and departure from the Republic of Lithuania of persons for humanitarian reasons.
