Poland to delay re-opening of its border with Belarus — Lithuanian PM
Warsaw has decided to delay the re-opening of two more border crossings with Belarus, Inga Ruginiene, the Lithuanian head of government, has said, marking a U-turn from Poland's earlier decision.
"Yesterday, I spoke on the phone with the Polish prime minister (Donald Tusk - PAP)," Ruginiene told a press conference on Thursday. "It was a very detailed and comprehensive conversation, and we decided that the Polish prime minister would delay the re-opening of the Polish border with Belarus."
The statement came two days after Tusk said Poland would be ready to re-open the Bobrowniki and Kuznica border crossings in November. On September 12, the country had closed these two and the rest of its checkpoints with Belarus in response to Belarus-Russia joint military drills, reopening only several crossings a few weeks later.
Ruginiene went on to say that Lithuania and Poland were coordinating their actions and "for now the borders (with Belarus - PAP) will remain closed, both in Poland and Lithuania."
On Wednesday, the Lithuanian government decided to close the country's border with Belarus for a month following incidents in which meteorological and smugglers' balloons from Belarus paralysed the Vilnius airport several times last week.
Earlier on Thursday, Polish Deputy Interior Minister Czeslaw Mroczek said that Poland would consult border decisions with Lithuania, accusing Minsk of waging a hybrid war against its two NATO neighbours. (PAP)
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