Since Saturday, Lithuania, through which most land transports from Russia to the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad, has banned the transport of goods subject to EU sanctions. It’s about coal, metals, building materials and high-tech products.
The railway station in the Lithuanian village of Kalveliai is on the route of corridor trains from Russia to Kaliningrad. Here, as well as at Vilnius Central Station, posters inform passengers about the atrocities of war in Ukraine (photo from the end of April).
Around three freight trains cross Lithuanian territory every day to ensure the exchange of goods between Russia and the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad. The Kaliningrad region came into being after the Second World War, when the USSR took the north-eastern part of East Prussia as spoils of war and incorporated it into its empire. Since Lithuania had previously been annexed by Moscow and the Kremlin never thought that the Soviet Union could ever break up, there was no need to establish some kind of transport corridor.
But since the end of the Cold War, supplying Kaliningrad has become a potentially hot topic because Russia is vulnerable here. Because the Kaliningrad region can only be reached by land via Lithuania and Poland, both of which are now NATO and EU states. The logical railway access is via Lithuania with its Russian broad gauge network. And on Saturday Lithuania according to official information started to ban the transport of goods affected by EU sanctions against Russia. It is about coal, metals, building materials and high-tech products.
A hot iron
Like Anton Alikhanov, the governor of the Kaliningrad region, according to media reports, the sanctions affect about half of the goods transport to Kaliningrad. He called on the population to refrain from panic buying. The area can still be supplied with the affected goods by sea. Two ships are currently operating between St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad, and Moscow is to be asked to expand the fleet. At the same time, Alekhanov called for reciprocal measures by Russia towards the EU.
The issue of freight and passenger transportation between Russia and Kaliningrad region via EU territory has been an issue in Lithuania for several weeks. In April, the Ministry of Transport announced that Lithuania could not make unilateral decisions as transit is regulated on the basis of an EU-Russia agreement. Vilnius therefore had to coordinate its steps with Brussels, which apparently took some time, especially since the sanctions regulations also change periodically.
Russia is now talking about a serious violation of the transit agreement between Brussels and Moscow. The demand is already circulating among hotheads that Russia must fight its way through a transport corridor. That, however, would mean an open conflict with NATO.
In any case, this brings the so-called Suwalki Gap back into focus, i.e. the Polish-Lithuanian border, which is only a few dozen kilometers long and at the same time separates the Kaliningrad region from Belarus and thus from the Russian sphere of influence. The strip, which takes its name from the nearby Polish provincial town of Suwalki, is NATO’s Achilles’ heel for Baltic defenses.
Especially since Kaliningrad has not become an economic growth region, as was speculated two decades ago in view of the special situation between two EU states, but has become militarily sealed off. Lithuania, for example, sees it as proven that, despite protestations to the contrary, the Kremlin in Kaliningrad already stationed nuclear weapons. However, if Sweden and Finland join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, it will make it easier for NATO to protect the Baltic states.
Special message for the train passengers
Passenger transport to and from Kaliningrad is not affected by the dispute over goods transit. These trains also have to pass through Lithuanian territory, but currently it is not possible to board and disembark at Lithuanian stations.
However, during the ten minutes that the train is stationary at Vilnius Central Station, passengers on the corridor trains will see a special photo exhibition. There are chain link fences on either side of the track in question Posters with pictures from the Ukraine war attached. «Putin kills peaceful citizens of Ukraine. Do you agree with that?”, reads the accompanying text. A spokesman for the Lithuanian railway company said that this might give some people something to think about. It’s the least you can do.