Initial siege: Lithuania’s restrictions on Kaliningrad anger Russia

Political leaders in Moscow reacted with anger to Lithuania’s restrictions on rail transport between Russia’s Baltic region of Kaliningrad and the Russian mainland. Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Russian Federation Konstantin Kosachev, one of Russia’s leading foreign politicians, wrote on his Telegram channel on Sunday night that the “beginning of the blockade” of Kaliningrad violates international law.

The stronghold of Kaliningrad is located around the former Konigsberg, between Lithuania and Poland. It is only about 500 kilometers from Berlin, but more than 1,000 kilometers from Moscow.

violating laws

“As a member state of the European Union, Lithuania violates a whole series of legally binding international legal procedures within the framework of sanctions (national law), which affects not only the obligations of Lithuania itself, but also the obligations of the European Union as a whole,” she wrote. Kosachev. The EU-Russia Association Agreement stipulates that neither party shall block the other’s transit. If things continue like this, it is likely that the West will soon question the freedom of the seas and will deny sea access to Kaliningrad, as it suspected.

Lithuania has banned rail transit of Western-sanctioned goods through its territory to Kaliningrad since Saturday. According to the head of the Kaliningrad Regional Administration, Anton Alikhanov, this concerns 40-50 percent of all goods in transit, such as building materials and metals.

Talk shows on Russian state television have been demanding for weeks the creation of a “corridor” from the heart of Russia to Kaliningrad. This means a Russian attack on NATO members Latvia and Lithuania.