„Without diplomatic talks, this issue (the issue of smuggled gas cylinders – ELTA) cannot be resolved,“ the politician told ELTA on Tuesday in the Seimas.
„I believe that Lithuania will be forced to sit down, negotiate, and talk with Belarus at the political level,“ he explained.
The leader of Nemuno Aušra continues to criticise the Cabinet's decision to close the border with Belarus and insists that Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys is responsible for this. According to Žemaitaitis, the smuggled balloon crisis could have been resolved in other ways.
„Closing the border was the worst possible decision, and Kęstutis Budrys is responsible for this because the foreign minister is playing his own game rather than that of the ruling majority and the government. Now that decision has become a political tool,“ said the leader of Nemuno Aušra.
„Instead of closing the borders, they could have solved this problem by using the army, as Poland did to protect its borders and railways. It was possible to use scientific technology and lasers to shoot down those balloons, but now the game is wonderful,“ said the politician.
He believes that carriers have become hostages of unqualified politicians
Last week, after the Lithuanian government opened the border ahead of schedule, Lithuanian companies' trucks remained trapped in Belarusian parking lots. This was confirmed to ELTA on Tuesday by the heads of the Linava transport association and the International Transport and Logistics Alliance (TTLA).
According to Nemuno Aušra's chairman, carriers stuck at the border have become hostages not only to the situation but also to decisions made by allegedly unqualified politicians.
„We opened the borders, but we did not allow bank transfers to be made so that carriers could pay for the storage of their vehicles and take them away (...). Therefore, before making a decision, we must always consider the consequences. If we remove border restrictions, we must automatically allow for payment and the return of cars,“ said Žemaitaitis.
„They (the carriers – ELTA) are hostages of unqualified politicians who have no understanding of economics, who do not know how business is done and that the economy is an integral part of the state, because now we are losing carriers, as they are now transporting goods through Poland (...). Now it is being repeated that we will close, we will not close the border, so even new carriers who have loaded goods and have now left for Belarus and are due to return tomorrow – they say wait, maybe you will close the borders again,“ explained the politician.
The politician says that the Nemuno Aušra faction will discuss the situation with representatives of the carriers on Thursday.
As announced, due to the intensification of the flow of contraband balloons from Belarus, which has repeatedly disrupted airport operations, the government closed the last border control points (BCPs) with Belarus in Medininkai and Šalčininkai for October, until midnight on November 30.
However, the BCPs were reopened last week. At the beginning of this week, after signals indicating a flight towards Vilnius Airport were detected in Lithuanian airspace, the latter was closed twice.
The decision to suspend flights was based on signals detected by the navigation system, which are characteristic of balloons moving toward Vilnius Airport.
Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said on Monday that if the situation with Belarus does not change, a decision may be made to reopen the border.
ELTA reminds us that this is one of many cases where the operation of Vilnius Airport has been suspended due to the threat of smuggled balloons from Belarus.