Context: In late May 2026, the Podlaskie Voivodeship authorities proposed adding a train passenger service to Białowieża, a tourist village located in the Białowieża Forest on the border with Belarus, to the development plans for the Polish railway network. The local authorities also noted that trains will be able to travel to Hrodna once the railroad is renovated, provided that the international situation improves. Passenger rail service between Poland and Belarus was suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic and has not resumed amid the ongoing international crisis.
On June 2, 2026, the Novosti 24 chasa program on the CTV TV channel reported that the Polish authorities refused to listen to their own people. The same is true of the Lithuanian authorities. To support their claims, the hosts cited the results of a public opinion poll. They asserted that significantly more people support lifting or easing sanctions against Belarus than support the restrictions.
“A recent public opinion poll in Lithuania revealed a similar divide between the non-independent government in Vilnius and the Lithuanian people. More than a third of the respondents in this Baltic state called for the lifting or easing of sanctions against Belarus,” said host Igor Poznyak.
“There are significantly more of them than there are people who support the sanctions,” continued co-host Yuliya Aleksiayuk.
The opinion poll was indeed conducted in Lithuania in early May. Over a third of respondents supported easing certain sanctions on Belarus. Another 11% supported lifting them entirely. 17% of those surveyed supported tightening sanctions.
However, the CTV anchors did not mention another finding. 30% of respondents believe the restrictions should remain unchanged. This figure changes the overall picture. When we combined the responses, we found that nearly as many people favored maintaining or tightening the sanctions as favored easing or lifting them. Lithuanian public opinion on this issue is almost evenly divided.