Kaliningrad region. A line of trucks at the Chernyshevskoye multilateral automobile checkpoint (MACP) on the border with Lithuania. Photo: Vitaly Nevar/TASS
Without explanation, Lithuania stopped the passage of trucks from Russia on March 20 at 11:00 p.m. According to the press service of the regional customs, a queue of 140 heavy trucks has formed in front of the Chernyshevskoye checkpoint in the Kaliningrad region. Another 25, already processed by our customs officials, are in no man’s land. On the Russian side, there have been no changes to the procedure for the passage and registration of trucks.
Closing the border between Lithuania and Russia in the Kaliningrad region: reasons
We should not be surprised by Lithuania’s agility in blocking transit from Kaliningrad to Great Russia. It is not the first time that Vilnius has carried out this type of machinations. And not only in relation to the transportation of goods, but also to passengers on trains running between Russia and Kaliningrad, who have been prohibited from boarding and alighting at Lithuanian stations since March 1.
“Brussels did not notify us about the termination of border crossings, which means that this is an initiative of Lithuania,” Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, commented on the news. . kp. – If it is confirmed that this is not a temporary problem, then we will have to go directly to Brussels.
The fact is that, the expert recalls, the transit with Kaliningrad is carried out under the 2002 agreement between Russia and the EU. In addition, ensuring uninterrupted communications between the Russian enclave and “mainland” Russia was one of the conditions for the admission of Lithuania to the European Union in 2004. Two years ago, the Lithuanians already tried to block the border with Kaliningrad, then we warned that if They did not lift the restrictions, we had the right to retaliate against any other EU country. Brussels then advised Vilnius to comply with the transit agreements.
“Perhaps this step by the Lithuanians is related to the fact that the EU summit on aid to Ukraine will be held on March 21 and 22,” suggests Vladimir Olenchenko. – In addition, the Lithuanian Ministry of Agriculture will propose to EU countries to limit the import of agricultural products from Russia. In any case, the story is not new. Lithuania is again trying to somehow regulate Russia’s relations with the European Union. I repeat, if the border blockade continues, we will take retaliatory measures against the EU as a whole or against some of its countries.
– And against whom specifically?
– We will not tell them not to prepare. Look, despite all the sanctions, we trade with Eastern European countries.
