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The Belarusian government on Thursday partially closed the country's land borders and replaced its interior minister and named three security officials to new roles.
Minsk announced restrictions at its borders with Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine, citing the COVID-19 pandemic.
Poland said only Belarusian citizens and trucks were being allowed to travel to Belarus at some of its border.
Cars going into Belarus were barred from entry from 1400 GMT, and in few hours the border was closed for outgoing cars, said Rustamas Liubajevas, chief of the Lithuanian border guard. The change came without an advance warning, he added.
President Alexander Lukashenko has been at loggerheads with his European Union neighbors since the country plunged into turmoil following a disputed election in August.
The Belarusian government also announced that Ivan Kubrakov, who as head of police in the capital Minsk has led the crackdown on the demonstrations, was appointed interior minister. His predecessor, Yuri Karayev, was one of three men named to new roles as presidential aides and inspectors responsible for key regions of the country.
The two other new presidential aides are Valery Vakulchik, who spent eight years as head of the KGB security police, and former deputy interior minister Alexander Barsukov.
Barsukov will be responsible for Minsk, Vakulchik for Brest on the Polish border, and Karayev for Grodno, near the borders with Poland and Lithuania.
President Lukashenko also ordered the strengthening of armed volunteer militia units, which in theory already exist but in practice have not played a role in the crisis till now.
The emphasis on security in regions bordering NATO countries is consistent with repeated allegations by President Lukashenko that NATO and the West are whipping up unrest in Belarus.
In September Lukashenko staged a high-profile series of military exercises with his key ally, Russia.
(The cover image: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko meets with newly-appointed Interior Minister Ivan Kubrakov in Minsk, October 29, 2020. /Reuters
(CGTN)
