Baltic EU/NATO member Lithuania has implemented a ban on all rail transit goods going to Russia's far-western exclave of Kaliningrad, after transport authorities initially announced the provocative measure on Friday. "The EU sanctions list notably includes coal, metals, construction materials and advanced technology, and Alikhanov said the ban would cover around 50% of the items that Kaliningrad imports," Reuters wrote.
This has given way to fears of panic buying breaking out in Kaliningrad Oblast, which is Russian sovereign territory on the Baltic Sea, but which is sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland, and is thus reliant on overland shipping for passage via its EU neighbors.
Anton Alikhanov, the governor of the Russian oblast which has a total population of some one million people (with Kaliningrad city including almost 450,000 - and 800,000 total if outlying suburbs are counted) is urging calm:
Russian officials and media have long warned against what they dubbed Western aims to "blockade" Kaliningrad. Crucially, the EU enforcement measure being implemented from Vilnius marks a complete break in a three decade long treaty that's been in effect...Urging citizens not to resort to panic buying, Alikhanov said two vessels were already ferrying goods between Kaliningrad and Saint Petersburg, and seven more would be in service by the end of the year.
"Our ferries will handle all the cargo", he said on Saturday.
Ahead of the new Lithuanian transit ban taking effect, the state railways service was reportedly awaiting final word from the European Commission on enforcing it:
Brussels then ruled that "sanctioned goods and cargo should still be prohibited even if they travel from one part of Russia to another but through EU territory," according to Rueters/Rferl.The cargo unit of Lithuania's state railways service set out details of the ban in a letter to clients following "clarification" from the European Commission on the mechanism for applying the sanctions.
Previously, Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomenas said the ministry was waiting for "clarification from the European Commission on applying European sanctions to Kaliningrad cargo transit."
In Moscow's eyes, this is tantamount to laying economic siege to part of Russia's sovereign territory and one million of its citizens. When the EU first proposed the blockage of goods as part of the last major sanctions package in early April, Kremlin officials warned of war given Moscow would have to "break the blockade" for the sake if its citizens.
According to an April 6th statement in Russia's TASS by a state Duma official:
Kaliningrad's governor Alikhanov has already called on Russian federal authorities to prepare tit-for-tat measures against Lithuania in wake of the transit ban.Statements from the West about a possible blockade of Kaliningrad is testing the waters, but Russia can 'break the blockade' in case these threats become a reality, it has an experience, Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the Federation Council upper house's Committee for International affairs, said on Wednesday.
"I think that for now, this is a game, testing the waters <...>. In case of a blockade, as they are saying, the Soviet Union knows how to break the blockades, we (Russia as the successor of the Soviet Union - TASS) have vast experience," the senator said.
"If they want to go to the length of making us break this blockade to save the lives of our people, who live there, we can do this," Dzhabarov said in a video interview at the press center of Parlamentskaya Gazeta (Parliamentary Newspaper).
He expressed hope, however, that the West "will have enough brains to opt against this".
"These steps are illegal and may entail far-reaching implications for Lithuania and the European Union. In particular, I would like to quote a few paragraphs from the Joint Statement on EU Enlargement, with references to international agreements, the documents which both the European community and the Russian Federation acceded to," Alikhanov said Saturday.
Additionally he cited a key condition that was part of Lithuania's 2004 accession to the EU. He quoted the prior agreement saying that the Baltic state "will apply in practice the principle of freedom of transit of goods, including energy, between the Kaliningrad Region and the rest of Russian territory."
"In particular, we confirm that there shall be freedom of such transit, and that the goods in such transit shall not be subject to unnecessary delays or restrictions and shall be exempt from customs duties and transit duties or other charges related to transit," Alikhanov quoted the Joint Statement further as saying.
Reader Comments
It was then that Adolf Hitler really wanted Poland to provide him with the so-called "corridor".
So the route connecting Germany with such a small piece called Prussia-East and the city of Gdańsk (Hitler wanted a port in the Baltic Sea).
At that time, Poland did not agree to this corridor, which consequently led to the war.
Not directly, but it was of great economic importance for Germany at the time.
Now it is EXACTLY the same!
Take a look at the map of the then Germany.
[Link]
The difference is that today not Poland, but Lithuania, and not Hitler, but Putin.
This confirms my thesis, which I have held for years, that Hitler was provoked into war.
It does seem to be a very similar situation ... but isn't this why NATO / EU wanted all those East European states to join in the first place
The general was called Rydz-Śmigły. Poland pursued a conciliatory policy towards Germany until Rydz-Śmigły was appointed commander-in-chief of the Polish army. He was EXTREMELY provocative.
The Germans, on the other hand, wanted a simple deal. They did not want to be occupied by force.
The whole was, of course, only one element of the provocation, just as it is today.
Let me remind you that Hitler's letters to London are STILL CLAUSE OF SECRET !!!!
Despite the fact that all the legal dates for such concealment of documents are ALREADY GONE!
What is it about these letters. that London is so afraid of declassifying them? ;-)
I can guess. These are Hitler's responses to the LONDON THREATS!
As for NATO, it is now taking the role of a scapegoat.
But of course, my friend is right, it's best to do it "with someone else's hands" .... wearing white gloves :-)
I will also mention that 3 mining towers in the Black Sea were attacked at the same time.
The attack was carried out with the help of homing missiles from UKRAINE!
120 people worked on the drilling platforms.
It is described here.
[Link]
A rescue operation is currently underway. Officially, these towers do not belong to Russia, but to one of the republics that split from Russia, but that is a minor difference.
I will only add one thing. Hitler turned out to be weak because he gave in to provocation.
But Putin is not Hitler, if the guy has the balls, he can do it.
It is enough to endure the right time, because the whole west is collapsing. And politically and economically.
So a wise leader will give time and let NATURE act :-)
Nuremburg 2.0, Lithuania Prepares Citizens for WAR & Zelensky's new Bromance - [Link]
IEarlGrey report which includes details on the 3rd edition of Lithuania's "Preparing Citizens for War" document
English translated version (PDF) - [Link]
Original (PDF) - [Link]
[Link]
The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained the ban on rail transit of ferrous metal products to Kaliningrad with EU sanctionsThere is an update from 14:24 → The Kaliningrad governor did not rule out retaliatory restrictions on the transit of goods from Lithuania "Moscow. 20th of June. INTERFAX.RU - The ban on the transit of ferrous metal products (including steel) between the main territory of Russia and the Kaliningrad Oblast through Lithuania is not a decision of Lithuania, but a consequence of EU sanctions against Moscow, said Gabrielius Landsbergis, head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania.
“Firstly, these are not Lithuanian measures, these are European sanctions that will apply from June 17th, and sanctions are now being applied by railways that inform their customers that the goods that are sanctioned from June 17th are steel and other products. from iron ore which will no longer be imported by Lithuania. This is happening in agreement with the European Commission, Landsbergis said on Monday ahead of the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
The ban has been known since mid-March as part of the fourth EU sanctions package, the Lithuanian customs department said.
The EU sanctions package adopted on March 15 imposed restrictions on Russian steel and other ferrous metal products under contracts concluded before June 17, and from June 18 they cannot be transported through the territory of the Community.
“The land transit between the Kaliningrad Oblast and other regions of Russia has not been stopped or blocked. The transit of passengers and goods not covered by EU sanctions continues. Lithuania has not imposed any unilateral, individual or additional restrictions on this transit. We have received additional instructions and are not taking any further action, Customs spokeswoman Lina Laurinaitytė-Grigiene told BNS.
According to the customs representative, the same ban will apply from July 10 for cement, alcohol and other products, from August 10 for coal and other solid minerals, from December 5 for Russian oil.
Meanwhile, the deputy chairman of the Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev, previously stated that the Lithuanian authorities were breaking international law by introducing restrictions on the rail transit of Russian goods through their territory to the Kaliningrad Oblast.
"As an EU member state, Lithuania, under sanctions (national legislation), violates a number of legally binding international legal acts concerning not only the obligations of Lithuania itself, but also the obligations of the European Union as a whole." Kosachev wrote on his Telegram channel.
He referred to Art. 12 of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the Russian Federation and the European Union of June 24, 1994, which, according to the Vice-President, has not yet been terminated. According to this document, "each party ensures free transit through its territory of goods originating in or destined for the customs territory of the other party" - he recalled.
Moreover, Kosachev noted that freedom of transit is "one of the fundamental principles" of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Thus, Art. 5 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade of 1947 "establishes freedom of transit through the territory of each contracting party by the routes most convenient for international transit, for traffic to or from the territories of the other contracting parties".
“At this pace, the West may even end a violation of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which also applies to freedom of transit and freedom on the high seas, which still allows ships to pass through" neutral waters "to Kaliningrad. Similarly, airspace - he emphasized. Kosachev.
The fact that the transit of goods by rail to the Kaliningrad Oblast from other regions of Russia will be significantly limited by the Lithuanian authorities, the oblast governor Anton Alikhanov announced on 17 June.
the world contains 7 billion + people, the vast majority of which, have no interest in making War, their wish, to make the best of the short time they have on this rock. Unfortunately, they've come to believe that a belligerent system of organized tyrants, who feed them fear filled propaganda that sends them into a hateful frenzy...is built for their benefit, is worth defending, and without it, they'd sink into an riotous abyss of ruin - without realizing that the true enemy, their captors and executioners, constructors of deformity, and creators of destruction.are those "they choose" to lead, and entrust with their salvation.
therefore, No, I do not believe the world/people are being pushed, I think, they're offered an invitation, it's down to them alone - either to accept it or decline it.