Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda will seek to secure EU leaders’ support amid Russia’s threats to Lithuania over the recently introduced ban of the transit of some goods to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
The president will raise this issue at the forthcoming European Council meeting later this week, Asta Skaisgiryte, the president’s chief foreign policy adviser, has said.
“The president will raise this issue because it is a topical issue in our lives and because Russia has threatened Lithuania with a full range of retaliatory measures amid the implementation of EU sanctions,” Skaisgiryte said.
“In our opinion, it would be correct to say this is an EU matter – not Lithuania’s, but the EU’s,” she added.
According to the adviser, Russia has targeted only Lithuania, even though the sanctions were unanimously imposed by 27 EU member states.
“We think it’s wrong to blame us for this. On the other hand, we understand that Russia is using the opportunity for propaganda,” Skaisgiryte said.
On June 21, Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, warned Lithuania of “serious consequences” in response to the ban of some sanctioned goods’ transit to Kaliningrad.
Lithuania insists it has not imposed unilateral restrictions, stressing that they are part of the EU’s fourth sanctions package, imposed as a result of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. This position was also shared by the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
Lithuania also points out that land transit between Kaliningrad and Russia has not been suspended, adding that both the flow of passenger and non-sanctioned goods continue. (LRT/Business World Magazine)
