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On 19 June in the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Undersecretary of the Ministry Laimonas Talat-Kelpša and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Valery Voronetsky exchanged notes, which signified the finalisation of demarcation of the  Lithuanian-Belarusian state border. ‘History teaches us that the best neighbourly relations are among those countries, the territories of which are clearly delimited in a mutual agreement that does not allow for bilateral claims. Today, the Lithuanian-Belarusian state border is delimited with accuracy of one centimetre,’ – said Undersecretary of the Ministry L.Talat-Kelpša.

According to the diplomat, ‘our common goal is to achieve that our nations would be not separated, but united by the state border’. ‘Our mutual interest promotes cooperation, and where there is cooperation, there will always be the necessary environment for the development of warm and friendly neighbourly relations’.

The Lithuanian-Belarusian state border is the first demarcated border of the European Union in the East.

The exchange of notes finalizes the negotiations and the process of demarcation of the state border, which lasted for more than a decade.

In 1996, while implementing the agreement concerning the state border between Lithuania and Belarus, the Lithuanian-Belarusian Mixed Commission, approved by the governments of both countries, started preparatory works for the demarcation of the state border. In 2007 the final protocols and documents for demarcation were signed. Later, the documents that were prepared by the Commission were approved by the governments of the two countries.

The Lithuanian-Belarusian state border is demarcated for the first time. Earlier Lithuania and Belarus were separated by an administrative line, to which different requirements were imposed.

While demarcating the state border, the Lithuanian-Belarusian Mixed Commission for the demarcation of the state border had not only to mark the delimitation line in the terrain, but also to form it according to the criteria that are set out for the state border. The factual usage of land and lawful interests of the users of land were taken into consideration; the integrity of roads, engineering buildings, melioration systems and other objects was maintained in accordance with property ownership, good environment was established for them to function and for their exploitation.

The length of the state border with Belarus is 678.819 km, 379.9 km out of them are on land and 298.9 km are on water. The border is marked by 1955 border marks. In lakes and ponds it is marked by 71 buoys.

The state borders of Lithuania, Poland and Belarus intersect in the East at the crossing-point of Liudvinavas, and in the West the state borders of Lithuania, Poland and Belarus intersect at the crossing-point of Mara.