By Andrius Sytas
VILNIUS (Reuters) – Lithuanian authorities said a ban on the transit through their territory to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad of goods that are subject to EU sanctions will take effect from Saturday.
News of the ban came on Friday, through a video posted by the region’s governor Anton Alikhanov.
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.
Its immediate start was confirmed by the cargo arm of Lithuania’s state railways service in a letter to clients following “clarification” from the European Commission on the mechanism for applying the sanctions.
A spokesman for the service confirmed the contents of the letter but declined to comment further. The foreign ministry did not reply to a request for comment.
Sandwiched between EU and NATO members Poland and Lithuania,
Kaliningrad receives supplies from Russia via rail and gas pipelines through Lithuania.
Home to the headquarters of Russia’s Baltic sea fleet, the enclave was captured from Nazi Germany by the Red Army in April 1945 and ceded to the Soviet Union after World War Two.
(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; additional reporting by Kate Abnett in Brussels; editing by John Stonestreet)
