Lithuania is gradually showing itself as a real tormentor of its neighbor Russia. She makes a significant contribution to the struggle of the Ukrainian resistance, but she is also actively opposed to Russia. Having previously closed the airspace to Russian aircraft, the Lithuanian government has now also decided to restrict the transport of goods by train to the Kaliningrad outpost.
In specific terms, Lithuania ban On the transport of goods by rail, which is also subject to EU sanctions, between Russia and the Kaliningrad Library. This region, located on the Baltic Sea and surrounded by Poland and Lithuania, will have to ship important goods such as coal, minerals, building materials and high-tech equipment by sea. The governor, Anton Alikhanov, estimated that half of all imports into Egypt oblast subject to penalties.
The boycott was confirmed on Saturday by the Lithuanian Railways Shipping Service. Russia has ruled that the ban is illegal, since Russia and Lithuania in 1993 treaty which provides for Russia to freely transport goods through Lithuanian territory. Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adominas said he was waiting for the European Commission’s opinion. The latter ruled that sanctioned goods, regardless of the treaty, may be prohibited because they are transported through EU territory.
Russian Governor Alikhanov urged the region’s roughly one million residents to remain calm. The district will be met by ships that can transport goods between Saint Petersburg and the port of Kaliningrad. Two ships are already doing this, Alikhanov notes that seven more ships will be added before the end of the year. “Our boats can handle all kinds of cargo.”
“Symbol of the destruction of international law”
Konstantin Kosachev, a member of the Senate of the Russian Federation and head of the Committee on Foreign Relations, also describes Lithuania as “the main figure in the destruction of international law.” “As a member state of the European Union, Lithuania violates a number of legally binding international legal measures on the basis of sanctions, which affect not only Lithuania’s own obligations, but also those of the European Union as a whole,” Kosachev said. cable†
As Kosachev warns: “At this rate, the West can come to him.” 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Which includes freedom of passage and freedom of the high seas, allowing ships to enter the Kaliningrad region via “neutral waters”. The same goes for the airspace.”
Strategic importance
Sanctions could lead to retaliatory responses from Russia. Kaliningrad is of decisive strategic importance for the nation: the Baltic Fleet, a fleet unit of more than 40 warships, is located in the port of Kaliningrad. The area also includes Iskander missile systems that can launch missiles with nuclear warheads.
The oblast It is also closer to the major Western countries (Germany, France, and the United Kingdom) than any Russian region, even separating the Baltic states largely from the rest of NATO. Only the Suwalski breach, a strip of land about 100 kilometers long that forms the border between Poland and Lithuania, connects the three Baltic states to the rest of the treaty. If Russia can capture this through a coordinated attack from Kaliningrad, Belarus, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia will be the next victims.
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