Lithuania to create buffer zone because of African swine fever in Belarus

In view of an outbreak of African swine fever in Belarus, Lithuania plans to create a buffer zone on its territory, destroying pigs within the distance of ten kilometers from the border with that neighboring country, the head of the Lithuanian State Food and Veterinary Service Jonas Milius told reporters on Thursday. The specialist left earlier on Thursday for Minsk to discuss that problem with his colleagues from Russia and Belarus. “It is necessary to create a kind of a buffer zone at the border. However, money to pay off compensations to the owners of livestock is needed to put this into practice. The Food and Veterinary Service has no spare money,” the chief veterinary officer said. “We will appeal to the European Commission to allocate money, as the Lithuanian border is the EU external border,” he stressed. According to Milius, this measure could be a temporary substitution for a barrier that Lithuania would want to build along its border with Belarus to prevent migration of wild animals. The money needed for disinfection of transport and people crossing the border is running out, and it will completely run out by the middle of August. An equivalent of 5,000 euros is needed for these measures daily. The State Food and Veterinary Service has offered to impose dues for border crossing, and will coordinate formalities with Lithuania’s concerned agencies.