Lithuania will close the Lavoriškių and Raigardo checkpoints on the country’s border with Belarus after two more checkpoints were closed on 18 August, LRT reported, citing head of the Lithuanian Ministry of Internal Affairs Agnė Bilotaitė.
“The Interior Ministry will propose to close two additional checkpoints in Lavoriškės and Raigardas,” Bilotaitė said.
According to the Minister, the decision to close two more checkpoints would be taken to reduce the scale of smuggling across the border and redirect officer capacity to the remaining border checkpoints.
On 18 August, Lithuania closed the Tverečius and Šumskas checkpoints on the border with Belarus.
The decision to close the Tverečius and Šumskas checkpoints was connected with the growing threats caused by the redeployment of some mercenaries of the Wagner Group to Belarus.
After the closure of the Lavoriškių and Raigardo crossing points, two out of six checkpoints will remain open at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border.
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