Around 1,000 vehicles waiting to cross into EU from Belarus

MINSK. Aug 18 (Interfax) - The Belarusian State Border Committee has reported a growing number of vehicles waiting to cross the EU border, with more than 390 trucks and 575 cars now standing in line.

"As of 10 a.m., the Lithuanian direction remained the busiest one for trucks. About 380 vehicles are waiting to cross into the EU. The longest line of trucks has formed near the Medininkai (Kamenny Log) checkpoint. The checkpoint's personnel have cleared only 21% of the normal amount of trucks since Monday," the committee said on Friday.

"The line for crossing into Lithuania is longest near the Medininkai (Kamenny Log) checkpoint. Its personnel have cleared no more than 58% of the normal amount of vehicles since Monday," it said.

"The line at the only Polish checkpoint open for cars, Terespol (Brest), has tripled over the past day, from 80 to 240 vehicles. The personnel of the adjacent border checkpoint has cleared 37% of the normal amount of vehicles since the beginning of this week," the committee said.

In addition, the lines of cars at the Latvian checkpoints Paternieki (Grigorovshchina) and Silene (Urbany) have grown after Lithuania closed the Sumskas (Losha) and Tverecius (Vidzy) checkpoints, the committee said.

Lines at the remaining checkpoints on the Lithuanian border will grow, the committee said earlier, and announced plans to increase shifts at the Kamenny Log, Kotlovka and Urbany checkpoints.

Lithuania closed the Sumskas (Losha) and Tverecius (Vidzy) checkpoints on the Belarusian border at midnight on August 18. The Lithuanian government explained its decision in terms of the geopolitical situation and the need to deescalate threats.

Now that Sumskas and Tverecius are closed, there are four operational checkpoints on the Belarusian border left; namely, Medininkai (Kamenny Log), Lavoriskes (Kotlovka), Raigardas (Privalka) and Salcininkai (Benyakoni).

The Lithuanian Transport Ministry said that traffic would be rerouted to the Medininkai checkpoint, which is under renovation. This is the largest and best equipped checkpoint, which unlike Tverecius and Sumskas, has an X-ray inspection system.