Lithuania has blocked in the last few hours the transit of goods to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. The transport of coal, metals and construction materials to the territory is now compromised, and the Lithuanian authorities defended the application of the measure as being in line with the sanctions applied by the European Commission against Russia.
The situation was denounced by Anton Alikhanov, Governor of Kaliningrad, in his personal Telegram account last Friday. The person in charge indicated that the partial blockade will force the a 40-50% decrease in freight transport that the region imports from the rest of Russia.
This Monday, Russia officially reacted to the measure. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement, cited by AFP, condemning what described as a “provocative” and “openly hostile” action.
“If in the near future the transit of goods between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of the territory of the Russian Federation is not fully restored, then Russia has the right to act and protect its national interests.”reads in the statement.
For his part, the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, described the decision of the Lithuanian authorities as “unprecedented” and “a violation” of international standards. “The situation is very serious and requires an analysis before taking any action and decision,” warned.
Faced with these criticisms, the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabrielius Landsbergis, stressed, quoted by the Lithuanian state channel LRT, that “Lithuania is not doing anything”, but this measure is the effect of “the European sanctions that came into force on 17 June”. “The industry that is imposing the sanctions is the railway, they informed their clients that the sanctioned goods could not cross Lithuanian territory,” he explained.
Ukraine has already expressed its support for the Lithuanian decision. In his personal Twitter account, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dymtro Kuleba, defended that Russia “He has no right to threaten Lithuania.” “Moscow must blame itself for the consequences of its unwarranted invasion of Ukraine,” he said.
Russia has no right to threaten Lithuania. Moscow alone bears the blame for the consequences of its unprovoked and unwarranted invasion of Ukraine. We commend Lithuania’s principled stand and strongly support our Lithuanian friends. @GLandsbergis
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) June 20, 2022
Kaliningrad, formerly Konigsberg, is an enclave cut off from the rest of Russia, bordering two EU and NATO countries: Lithuania and Poland.
Source: Observadora
