Poland Says EU & Russia Agree They Need A Plan On Kaliningrad

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

Late this week Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the EU and Russia agree that they need to come up with a plan concerning the transit of goods through Lithuania to Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea.

“Both sides concluded that it is worth agreeing a plan that will not violate de facto implementation of the sanctions, because, frankly speaking, the Kaliningrad Oblast is a very small part of Russia,” Morawiecki said.

Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki, EPA/EFE

Lithuania recently started enforcing EU sanctions on goods traveling to Kaliningrad through its territory, angering Russia, which has warned of a response if the move is not reversed.

Morawiecki’s comments came a day after Reuters reported that European officials are in talks on a compromise that could exempt goods traveling to Kaliningrad. The report said a deal could be reached soon if Lithuania drops its reservations, although Vilnius doesn’t want to appear like it’s making a concession to Russia.

“Poland supports Lithuania as much as possible in its discussion together with the European Commission in the area of ​​developing… an appropriate mechanism in the flow of goods between Kaliningrad and Russia proper,” Morawiecki said.

Publicly, Lithuanian officials have said they will stick to enforcing the restrictions on Kaliningrad. Lithuanian officials have also said that they don’t expect Russia to respond to the embargo militarily since the Baltic nation is a member of NATO.

Reuters has noted that “Lithuanian, formerly ruled from Moscow, is now one of Russia’s fiercest critics in the EU and has been at odds with officials in Germany and Brussels who want to defuse the row.”