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War in Ukraine: understanding everything about the tensions around the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad

Between Poland and Lithuania, 1000 kilometers from Moscow, the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad – which houses the headquarters of the Russian fleet on the Baltic Sea – is at the heart of a dispute between the Kremlin and the European Union. Since June 17, Lithuania, which is a former Soviet republic, has in fact been applying European sanctions linked to the invasion of Ukraine on the transit by rail of goods towards the enclave bordered by two countries of NATO and the EU. A potentially explosive situation that displeases Russian leaders.

  • The facts: Sanctions that make Russians cringe

On Friday, Lithuania’s state-owned rail operator, LTG, announced it would no longer allow Russian goods subject to EU sanctions, including coal, metals, building materials, and some tech goods. , to transit through the country to Kaliningrad. Denouncing a “blockade”, the governor of Kaliningrad, Anton Alikhanov, estimated that between 40% and 50% of supplies to the enclave via Lithuania were potentially subject to these restrictions. However, for Moscow, this measure directly violates an agreement dating from 2002 concluded between Russia and the European Union shortly before the integration of the Baltic countries within the European Union (effective in 2004). In particular, this allows Russian citizens to travel without a visa.

The tone therefore quickly rose between Moscow and Vilnius. Visiting Kaliningrad, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev directly threatened the country hostile to his policies: “Russia, of course, will react to such hostile acts. Appropriate measures are being worked out at inter-ministerial level and will be adopted soon. They will have serious negative consequences for the people of Lithuania”. In the aftermath, the Kremlin accused the European Union of encouraging an “escalation” of tensions, demanding an immediate restoration of transit to the oblast (region). “Transit by land between Russia and Kaliningrad has not been stopped or prohibited. The transit of passengers and goods continues. There is no blockade”, replied the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, without succeeding in calming the tensions.

photo media_content"><img xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" data-optimumx="1.5" data-sizes="auto" alt="L'enclave russe de Kaliningrad est source de tensions entre la Lituanie et la Russie, dans le contexte de la guerre en Ukraine." class="article__item–img loading_medium lazyload lazy img_resp_full media_content_full" src="data:image/svg+xml;utf8,

The Russian enclave of Kaliningrad is a source of tension between Lithuania and Russia, in the context of the war in Ukraine.

AFP

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