Linas Jegelevičius
Thursday, the 17th of August, was the last day for crossing the border with Belarus through Lithuania’s Šumskas and Tverečius border checkpoints – they will be temporarily shut down from the 18th of August.
The liberal-conservative Lithuanian government says the measure was necessary to address the new geopolitical circumstances and threats, stemming from the deployment of Russia’s fight-hardened Wagner mercenaries in Belarus. However,
The decision angered many locals, who would regularly make cross-border trips to duty-free Belarusian shops – for cheaper groceries, gas and medicine.
Approached by BNN, Dalia Štraupaitė, the former mayor of Visaginas, a border town with the predominant Russian-speaking community, said: “Economic factors drive locals over the border. Some of goods in Belarus are cheaper two or more times. That’s the reality. What our government needs to do is to reduce the value added tax for food, which would diminish the scope of cross-border shopping.” She says that
only those working in the now defunct Ignalina nuclear power plant, in vicinity of Visaginas, can afford a decent living.
“The majority needs to get by with the minimum salary. With electricity, heating and other utility bills soaring, the income of the majority remained the same. Therefore, Belarus trips helped them to make ends meet,” D. Štraupaitė said.
“A loaf of bread in Visaginas costs two euros, or even more, when its price in Belarus is well under one euro. We cannot demand patriotism from people when their basic needs are unsatisfied,” she added.
According to her, most of Visaginas dwellers would cross the border through Tverečius checkpoint in the neighbouring district of Ignalina.
Belarus’ authorities say 170 000 Lithuanians have entered the neighbouring country visa-free so far this year. Belarusian border guards have registered a total of over 400 000 visits by Lithuanian nationals since April 2022. Belarus has a visa-free regime for Lithuanian, Latvian and Polish citizens in place since the spring of 2022.
Jonas Baltakis, Ignalina’s councillor representing The Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, admitted to BNN that some locals are angered and frustrated by the decision to shut down Tverečius checkpoint.
“People used it to get into Belarus to buy much cheaper gas, groceries and medicine there.
For example, the price of gas hovers around 95 euro cents there, cigarettes are also very cheap there.
However, one could bring only two packs over a single trip. Not surprisingly, some people would walk back and forth several times every day, some – multiple times. Some would peddle the cigarettes to their relatives or neighbours, eking out some extra money,” the Ignalina politician told BNN.
When it comes to alcohol, the limitation was one bottle per a single trip, J. Baltakis said.
“For some people living in Tverečius and Didžiasalis villages at the border, trips over it were a daily routine. Obviously, for some, it has become a way of livelihood,” he said.
Lithuania’s State Security Department (VSD) and State Border Guard Service (VSAT) have said there were instances of Lithuanian citizens being taken to a separate room for questioning on the Belarusian side.
The agencies maintain some Lithuanians get asked about their views on Belarus and Russia’s role in the war in Ukraine and their electronic gadgets and social media activities also get checked. These actions are believed to be carried out by unidentified individuals, possibly affiliated with the KGB, VSD and VSAT have warned.
However, the Ignalina councillol says he has never heard of such cases.
“Our mainstream media portrays the situation border as tense, but here we do not feel any tensions. To me, it is calm. In fact, one, out of curiosity, I’ve travelled over the border myself and nothing happened.
However, crossing it by car is very problematic – due to getting stuck in the long line of cars, buses and trucks. Many wait up to six hours to get through the checkpoints. That’s the reality.
Therefore, making the one-and-a-half-kilometre trip on foot is much simpler and much less time consuming,” J. Baltakis told BNN, adding:
“No doubt, for some, the quality of live will worsen after the two checkpoints are closed.”
Viktor, a villager of Didžiasalis in proximity to the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, told BNN he mostly buys cigarettes, alcohol, sweets and medicine in duty-free shops over the border.
He is one of the 230 000 Lithuanians who travelled to Belarus in the first half of this year alone, according to Lithuanian statisticians.
“Sometimes go there once a week, sometimes three times. I get to the border point by car, park it there, I get out and cross the checkpoint on foot. I was never asked anything at the border. Just a simple procedure, nothing dangerous there.
No one can scold people for crossing over the border for cheaper stuff. There is a difference between four euros and seventy cents,” he said.
When asked what he would do now after the Tverečius checkpoint is closed, the 60-year-old man said he would have to swallow a bitter pill, as, for him, it wouldn’t make sense to use farther checkpoints to get in Belarus.
Lithuanian government says that temporary closure of the two checkpoints would not substantially change the situation with regard to vehicle lines and freight transportation as the remaining four border checkpoints with Belarus – those of Medininkai, Lavoriškės, Raigardas and Šalčininkai – will remain open.
According to the Lithuanian Transport Ministry, vehicle traffic will be diverted to the Medininkai border checkpoint, the largest and most technically equipped of Lithuania’s six checkpoints on the border with Belarus.
Lithuania’s Interior Minister Agne Bilotaitė has said earlier this week that
the Baltic States and Poland are discussing the possibility of a full border closure with Belarus,
with the details to be worked out later this month in Warsaw.
However, some border residents feel undeterred by the restrictions and the plans of the policy-makers and say they are ready to explore alternative border crossing points, despite much longer waiting times at them.
“We do not care about the politics and any politics. It is natural and logic to look for cheaper goods. People at borders do that everywhere,” Viktor reiterated.