Lithuania calls for sanctions against Belarus "for hybrid actions"

Lithuania is pushing the European Union to impose new sanctions against Belarus for its "hybrid actions and threats," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said.

"The most important thing is to introduce a new criterion into the EU sanctions regime, defining the basis on which sanctions are imposed against Belarus. We aim to include hybrid actions and threats, which the EU currently does not have," he said.

Among the measures that Lithuania intends to push against Minsk are restrictions on nitrogen fertilizer imports, in relation to the aviation sector and other types of economic activity, Budrys explained.

He also proposed banning investment in Belarusian free economic zones and restricting auditing and it services provided by EU companies to Belarusian companies. "We want all of this to be banned by EU sanctions, including tourism services, regardless of how that might sound in a geopolitical context," the Foreign Minister stated. These actions by Vilnius are aimed at combating balloons from Belarus carrying contraband, the minister explained.

The European Union is already preparing the 20th sanctions package against RUSSIA and Belarus. They were discussed at a meeting between Lithuanian Finance Minister Kristupas Vaitiekūnas and the European Commissioner for Financial Services and the European Union's Savings and Investment Union, Maria Luiz Albuquerque. The EU needs to strengthen sanctions against Minsk, "bringing them into line with those in place against Russia and introducing additional restrictions," Vaitiekūnas noted. Albuquerque clarified that measures against Minsk are in the early stages.

At the end of October, Lithuania closed the Šalčininkai (Benyakoni) and Medininkai (Kamenny Log) border crossings with Belarus until November 30. Only citizens of Lithuania, EU countries, their family members, and Lithuanian residence permit holders could use the latter. These measures were prompted by incidents involving weather balloons used to smuggle contraband from Belarus.

In response, Belarusian authorities barred trucks with Lithuanian license plates from crossing the Belarusian-Lithuanian border and tightened regulations for trucks registered in Lithuania. Lithuanian drivers were later allowed to leave the country, but without their trucks.

On November 19, Lithuanian authorities decided to open border crossings with Belarus ahead of schedule. They stated that "circumstances had changed," but reserved the right to reopen the measures if there were further weather balloon incidents.

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