The three European Union members bordering Belarus say they're responding to the reported presence of Wagner mercenaries on Belarusian territory, after the private Russian military group's fleeting and ill-fated June rebellion.

"This decision is one of the preventive measures aimed at managing emerging threats national security and possible provocations at the border," Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite said last week in statement announcing the temporary closures.

Minsk's close ties to Moscow and its move to welcome Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin may have deepened divisions, but Belarus has long been at the center of an uncomfortable geography: To the West are the EU and the western military alliance NATO; to the East and South are Russia, Ukraine and all-out war.

In a social media post last week, the agency accused Vilnius of "deliberately creating artificial barriers at the border in favor of its political ambitions" and using "any excuse" to prevent Lithuanian citizens from traveling to Belarus.

The European Commission gave no opinion on Lithuania's move to close two crossings, but told DW in written comments that it is "following developments at the EU external borders with Russia and Belarus very carefully."

A fresh crisis began in 2021 after a jump in irregular crossings into Poland and Lithuania, when the bloc accused Belarusian authorities of luring mainly Middle Eastern migrants toward EU borders and helping them enter illegally.

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