Lithuania will close two of its six border crossings with Belarus amid concerns over the presence of Wagner mercenaries there, the Lithuanian deputy interior minister said on Friday.
“We are preparing the decision to shut down two checkpoints,” Arnoldas Abramavicius told AFP, naming the Sumsko and Tvereciaus crossings as those to be closed.
Lithuania, a NATO member on the alliance’s eastern flank, is slated to formally adopt the decision next week.
Moscow-allied Belarus has been hosting Wagner fighters following their short-lived rebellion against Russia’s top military brass.
Lithuanian and Polish leaders said earlier this week that around 4,000 mercenaries were stationed in Belarus already.
Both countries are mulling a joint decision to close the border with Belarus completely, amid concerns that Wagner fighters could try to cross disguised as migrants or carry out other provocative acts.
Abramavicius said the decision regarding the two checkpoints was being made because Lithuania needed “to be ready to completely shut down the border at any moment.”
That could also lower smuggling risks and make passenger traffic across the Belarus border more complicated, he added.
Both Poland and Lithuania have erected fences on their borders with Belarus and Russia, accusing Minsk and Moscow of orchestrating migrant influxes into the European Union in order to destabilize the 27-member bloc.
