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
German spy chief warns of Russia threat to 2026 regional polls
- Sinan Selen said hat Germany was especially in Moscow’s sights because it is a central logistics hub of the NATO alliance on the continent
BERLIN: Germany’s domestic spy chief warned Monday that Russia could step up sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns next year when the EU’s top economy, a strong backer of Ukraine, holds several regional elections.
Sinan Selen, head of the BfV intelligence service, said in a Berlin speech that Germany was especially in Moscow’s sights because it is a central logistics hub of the NATO alliance on the continent.
Speaking later to AFP, Selen said about Russian disinformation campaigns that “we’ve repeatedly seen that elections play a very significant role here, and as you know we have several state elections in Germany next year.”
Russia is blamed by Western security services for a spate of drone flights, acts of sabotage, cyberattacks and online disinformation campaigns in Europe, which have escalated since its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“We are being attacked here and now in Europe,” Selen said in a speech marking 75 years since the founding of the BfV, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
“In its role as a logistics hub for collective defense and support of Ukraine, Germany is more heavily targeted by Russian intelligence services than other countries,” he said.
“Above all Russia, as a hybrid actor, is undoubtedly aggressive, offensive and escalating. Its intelligence services employ a wide range of attack vectors from its toolbox.
“A clear sign of a highly dangerous escalation is the preparation and execution of sabotage attacks in Germany and other European countries, for which the Kremlin is considered the primary instigator. There is no sign of any relief in sight.”
Germany next year holds five regional elections, including in the ex-communist east, where the far-right and Moscow-friendly Alternative for Germany (AfD) party hopes to make further strong gains.
Selen, speaking about hybrid threats, said that “every sector of society can be affected, and this will be especially true in the coming year.”
The course of the Ukraine war would also strongly influence the actions of Russia, which Selen said “can scale the intensity of its sabotage operations at will.”
Selen added that “this war of aggression is more than a struggle for Ukrainian territory, it is a litmus test in the ongoing systemic conflict between authoritarianism and democracy in a multipolar and complex world.”
