According to Resolution No. 599 of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus, issued on 31 October 2025, the following vehicles are prohibited from using Belarusian territory:
- Trucks and tractor units registered in EU member states,
- Trailers and semi-trailers registered in Poland and Lithuania,
- Passenger cars registered in Poland engaged in international transport under waybills or CMR documents.
The ban also applies in cases where the tractor unit originates from a third country but is hauling a semi-trailer registered in Poland or Lithuania.
Exceptions are granted only for special-purpose transport, including mail, medicines, animals, and medical or humanitarian supplies.
Political context
The Belarusian government described the move as a response to the “unfriendly actions” of Western countries towards Belarus. The measure was introduced shortly after Poland and Lithuania announced plans to partially reopen border crossings with Belarus, which had previously been closed due to political tensions and incidents involving migrants and reconnaissance balloons.
According to Lithuanian media and industry representatives, the decision by Minsk is viewed as retaliatory.
“It is a blow to companies involved in transporting goods from China to the EU through Russia and Belarus. Many of these firms are registered in the Baltic states and Poland, and employ workers from Central Asia, Georgia, and Ukraine,” noted the Lithuanian agency ELTA.
Povilas Drižas, Secretary General of the Lithuanian Transport and Logistics Alliance (TTLA), warned that Lithuania could ‘disappear from the logistics map of the region’.
“Our trade relations are already starting to feel the negative effects of this border closure,” he told the Lithuanian agency BNS.
Oleg Tarasov, Vice President of the Lithuanian Road Carriers Association (Linava), described the situation as “close to catastrophic.”
“If the border is not reopened soon, Lithuanian hauliers will be pushed out of the market. Our neighbours will take over the freight. We estimate that the logistics sector could lose around €1 billion in annual revenue,” he told LRT Radio.
Border crisis with Belarus
Tensions along the Belarus–EU frontier have been escalating since 2021, when Belarus was accused of orchestrating migrant crossings into neighbouring EU states. In response, Poland and Lithuania have gradually restricted road access to and from Belarus.
Most road border crossings are now either closed or severely limited, with only a few rail routes remaining open for freight.
Lithuania further tightened controls in late October 2025 after several unidentified balloons entered its airspace from Belarus — incidents that disrupted civil aviation and were described by Vilnius as a potential threat to national security.
Currently, truck transit between the EU and Belarus is effectively suspended, with exemptions granted only for humanitarian, postal, and medical transport.
