After the European Commission published new guidelines on the Kaliningrad transit, which allowed for the transportation of sanctioned goods by rail through Lithuania, the EC said that Vilnius did everything correctly, given the information it had.
“Regarding the clarification, it is a technical change, there is no change in position – our recommendations are in line with the implementation of the sanctions, but we have provided additional guidance and clarifications to the member states to ensure that the objectives are achieved,” said EC spokesman Daniel Ferrie.
He stressed that transporting sanctioned goods by road remained banned, while countries needed to apply effective controls at their border.
The EC notes that the transit of military and dual-use goods is prohibited both by road and rail.
“Lithuania is implementing the sanctions that have been agreed at Community level, we fully support Lithuania and we all share the same objective – to implement sanctions that have a strong impact on the Russian economy,” said EC spokeswoman Dana Spinant.
According to her, the implementation of sanctions can be a complicated process with many new practical issues to work out, “but Lithuania has done well according to the information that it had”.
The EC reiterated that national authorities were responsible for checking goods that were transported by rail. Russia was not involved at any level during the consultations about the Kaliningrad transit sanctions, the EC said. (LRT/Business World Magazine)
