VILNIUS, June 18 (Reuters) – Lithuanian authorities said a ban on the transit of goods subject to EU sanctions through their territory to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad will come into force from Saturday.
News of the ban came on Friday through a video posted by the region’s governor Anton Alikhanov. Continue reading
The EU sanctions list specifically includes coal, metals, building materials and advanced technologies, and Alikhanov said the ban would cover about 50% of items Kaliningrad imports.
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The immediate start was confirmed by the freight department of the Lithuanian State Railways in a letter to customers after the European Commission “clarified” the mechanism for applying the sanctions.
A spokesman for the service confirmed the content of the letter, but declined to comment further. The State Department did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomenas told the public broadcaster that his institution is waiting for “a clarification from the European Commission on the application of European sanctions to Kaliningrad cargo transit”.
Nestled between EU and NATO members Poland and Lithuania,
Kaliningrad receives supplies from Russia via rail and gas pipelines through Lithuania.
Home to the headquarters of the Russian Baltic Fleet, the enclave was captured by the Red Army from Nazi Germany in April 1945 and ceded to the Soviet Union after World War II.
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Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; additional reporting by Kate Abnett in Brussels; Adaptation by John Stonestreet and Christina Fincher
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