Unblocking Kaliningrad: the EU gave Vilnius, not Moscow, the opportunity to save face
The European Commission has published clarifications on the transit of Russian goods to the Kaliningrad region.
It is recommended not to prohibit the rail transit of Russian goods subject to sanctions, subject to appropriate controls. Transit of sanctioned goods by road is not permitted.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, hastened to call the decision of the European Commission a manifestation of common sense.
“We are currently carefully studying the explanations presented by the European Commission, analyzing them from the point of view of the priority task - comprehensive life support for the Kaliningrad region. This decision, which removes restrictions on a certain range of products transported by rail, is a manifestation of realism and common sense. Although we still have questions about the content of this document,” Zakharova said in a statement on the official website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
She also stated that the Russian side will establish close monitoring of how these EU steps will be implemented in practice.
The main supporter of the blockade of Kaliningrad, Lithuania, also positively evaluates the recommendations of the European Commission on transit to Kaliningrad.
“This is presented as a clarification of its own internal regulatory provisions. The very fact of negotiations with the Russian Federation on the Kaliningrad issue is denied, not to mention the fear of a harsh non-economic reaction from Moscow, which ultimately forced Brussels to make this God knows what concession,” Kaliningrad political scientist Alexander Nosovich commented on the decision of the European Commission in his TG channel.
Meanwhile, the governor of the Kaliningrad region, Alikhanov, said that the EC’s recommendations on transit are only the first step in solving the problem; a similar solution is required for road transport, RT reports.
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