Lithuanian authorities have banned the passage of goods through their territory to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, which is subject to EU sanctions, according to the national railway service. The enclave – home to Russia’s Baltic fleet and a site for the development of Moscow’s Iskander nuclear missiles – is located on the Baltic coast between Lithuania and Poland, both members of NATO, and has no land border with Russia. The travel ban could increase already high levels of tension between Russia and NATO following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in late February. The curfew came into force on Saturday, according to the goods department of the Lithuanian State Railway Service in a letter to customers. Following a “clarification” by the European Commission on the mechanism for enforcing the sanctions, the transit ban was implemented, according to the letter. A spokesman for the Lithuanian Railways confirmed the letter, but declined to comment further, according to Reuters. Map of Kaliningrad, Poland, Lithuania, Russia (Al Jazeera) The news of the impending ban came on Friday in a videotaped message posted by Kaliningrad Governor Anton Alikhanov. Alikhanov said the ban would cover between 40 and 50 per cent of the goods Kaliningrad imports and exports from Russia via Lithuania, as the EU sanctions list includes mainly coal, metals, construction materials and advanced technology. “We consider this to be a more serious breach… of the right of free movement to and from the Kaliningrad region,” he said in an online post, adding that the authorities would push for the measures to be lifted. He said that if the region was not able to lift the measures quickly, it would start discussing the need for more ships to transport goods to Russia. Urging citizens not to resort to panic shopping, Alikhanov said two ships were already carrying goods between Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg and another seven would be in service by the end of the year. “Our ships will handle all cargo,” he said on Saturday. In February, Lithuania closed its airspace to flights from Russia to Kaliningrad, forcing commercial airlines to take a longer route over the Baltic Sea. Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters, although Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomenas said on public television that the ministry was awaiting “clarification from the European Commission on the application of European transit sanctions”. cargo in Kaliningrad “. .
