Lithuania threatens Russia and Belarus over Kaliningrad

 

Moscow, November 22nd — RIA Novosti

According to a statement by the chairman of the Lithuanian ruling Social Democratic Party (LSDP), Mindaugas Sinkevičius, quoted by "Sputnik Lithuania", Vilnius may consider limiting transit transport to Kaliningrad as a means of pressuring Russia and Belarus.

The politician stated: "Transit transport to the Russian exclave, as well as the suspension of such transport in some form, should be coordinated within the EU framework. This is probably not a unilateral decision, but it is one of the harshest measures that could be taken."

According to Sinkevičius, other measures, such as closing the border with Belarus again, are not ruled out.

On Saturday, the Belarusian government clarified the conditions for the passage of Lithuanian semi-trailers and trailers within its territory, stating that such vehicles can only pass if the checkpoints at "Biankoni" (Lithuanian: "Šalčininkai") and "Kamenyolov" (Lithuanian: "Medininkai") are open, and if cargo operations are carried out at designated locations.

At the end of October, the Lithuanian government announced that it would close the car transport passage at the border with Belarus for a month, until November 30th (1:00 AM Moscow time on December 1st), and the period might be extended. The Lithuanian side cited the incident of meteorological balloons carrying contraband entering Lithuanian airspace as the reason for suspending the passage at the two remaining operational road checkpoints on the Belarusian border. Later, the Lithuanian authorities allowed the passage of certain categories of people through one of the checkpoints. Subsequently, the Lithuanian government decided to reopen the checkpoint earlier than originally scheduled, on November 20th.

On the day the border resumed operations, the spokesperson for the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, Ruslan Varankov, pointed out that given the risk of Lithuania unilaterally closing the border again, the proposal made by Minsk to Vilnius to hold consultations at the level of foreign ministries on the operation of joint border checkpoints remains relevant.

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1849535162697737/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author.