VILNIUS: Some 2,000 trucks were stranded Friday in Belarus after Lithuania closed its border in response to recent airspace disruptions, a truckers association said.
Dozens of balloons loaded with illegal cigarettes entered Lithuania’s airspace last week, forcing the temporary closure of airports in the capital Vilnius and Kaunas, affecting numerous flights and thousands of passengers.
Vilnius and the European Union denounced the incidents as a “hybrid attack.”
“Around 2,000 trucks are stranded in Belarus,” Oleg Tarasov, vice president of Linava, the Lithuanian road carriers’ association, told AFP on Friday.
“The Belarusians have seized all Lithuanian vehicles and are not allowing them to leave (the border area). We are being held hostage, our goods are being held hostage,” he said.
An estimated 60 million euros ($69 million) in assets are currently stuck in Belarus, according to Tarasov, who warned such delays could cause around 18 million euros in monthly losses.
The Linava official criticized the government for not consulting or informing road carriers ahead of the closure, which affects cross-border freight transport.
Lithuania’s logistics sector employs some 54,000 drivers who operate around 56,000 trucks, according to data provided by the association.
Lithuania, a NATO and European Union member, shut its last two border crossings with Belarus until November 30 in response to last week’s incident.
Four other border crossings with Belarus were closed in 2023 and 2024 due to security concerns after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Neighbouring Poland also temporarily shut its border with Belarus in September when Minsk hosted Russia-led military exercises, and has since reopened only some crossings.
2,000 trucks stuck in Belarus after Lithuania closes border: association
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2,000 trucks stuck in Belarus after Lithuania closes border: association
- “Around 2,000 trucks are stranded in Belarus,” Oleg Tarasov, vice president of Linava, the Lithuanian road carriers’ association, told AFP
- The Linava official criticized the government for not consulting or informing road carriers ahead of the closure
Nigeria govt critic detained by anti-corruption agency
Abuja: Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency said Tuesday it was questioning opposition politician Nasir El-Rufai, a prominent critic of President Bola Tinubu.
The authorities launched court proceedings on Monday against El-Rufai, a former governor of Kaduna state, after he said on Nigerian television he had tapped the phone of Tinubu’s national security adviser.
Local media said he was being questioned about the alleged misuse of 432 billion naira ($319 million) during his stint as governor of Kaduna between 2015 and 2023.
He was summoned to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and appeared voluntarily, EFCC spokesman Dele Oyewale told AFP on Tuesday.
“He was invited and he honored the invitation,” Oyewale said. “He is being interviewed now.”
El-Rufai told TV channel Arise News on Friday he had intercepted calls from Tinubu’s aide Nuhu Ribadu, whom he accused of using the security services as his “personal tools.”
He also said the west African country’s domestic intelligence agency, DSS, had tried to arrest him at Abuja airport the day before but he had refused to go with them.
El-Rufai, who recently declared that he was still considering whether to challenge Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, said the anti-corruption commission had “procured the DSS to abduct me for them.”
“This is their modus operandi. They are personal tools of Nuhu Ribadu,” he said.
At the weekend, he posted on X a letter addressed to Ribadu asking the latter to explain an alleged delivery of 10 kilogrammes of thallium sulphate, a highly toxic chemical.
Another senior member of El-Rufai’s opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) party, former justice minister Abubakar Malami, is also facing legal proceedings over allegations of terrorism and money-laundering.
