They had the right to say that it was a betrayal and a knife stabbed in the back for a country that had hit Russia hard. However, Lithuanian politicians showed class and did not attack German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for calling on Lithuania and the EU to lift the blockade of Kaliningrad. – These words were received with great surprise. And that’s all there was to it,” Lithuanian journalist Vytautas Janczys reports to WP.
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– It is still difficult to judge what will happen regarding the Kaliningrad blockade. After Scholz’s words, the scales are tipping towards a loosening of the blockade, Witold Janczys, a Lithuanian journalist who writes about Russian affairs for the Delfi portal, tells Wirtualna Polska. The position of our politicians is that we seek the most severe sanctions possible. If the European Commission recommends the resumption of transports, it will probably do so, as Lithuania is unlikely to introduce the blockade itself,” he adds.
He stresses that the country finds itself in an embarrassing situation. On 17 June, Lithuanian customs officials, relying on recommendations from the European Commission, introduced a blockade of shipments from Russia to the Kaliningrad region. This prompted a series of ‘war threats’ from Russian politicians.
Lithuanian Speaker. “We will not be Russia’s backyard”.
A week ago, Lithuanian MEPs revealed that “one country is lobbying in the corridors of Brussels for a loosening of the blockade”. Without pointing the finger at whom they were referring to, they appealed to EC President Ursula von der Leyen not to give in to this pressure. It has been known since Thursday that Germany is behind the lobbying.
At a press conference at the Nato summit in Madrid, Olaf Scholz said that “it is a matter for the European Union to establish the necessary framework and rules” for the transport of goods from Russia to its enclave.
These rules “must always be established in the light of the fact that we are dealing here with traffic between two parts of Russia”. – I believe that all parties involved are now making great efforts to establish a de-escalation dynamic here,” the German politician added.
There have been claims in Lithuania that the country will lose its sovereignty because the Russian demand for a transport corridor from Russia to Kaliningrad will be realised. However, the president, prime minister and speaker of parliament are exercising restraint. – Lithuania will not become a transitional place, Russia’s backyard for Kaliningrad transit. It is important not to scare with such fears,” Parliament Speaker Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen stated on social media on Friday.
We will strive for the toughest possible sanctions against Russia and Belarus, a halt to the Russian war machine and a victory for Ukraine, the head of parliament added. She stressed that the decision on the shape of transport restrictions would be a joint Lithuanian-EU position.
Kaliningrad. This is how they take revenge for the blockade
The blockade of Kaliningrad has painfully hit the region’s economy. There is a shortage of cement, sheet metal and many other commodities necessary for companies. A few days ago, the region’s governor flew to Moscow in emergency mode to ask the deputy prime minister to allocate ships for the supplies to arrive. – Kaliningraders, the country is with us! And Lithuania will feel the answer,” he announced to Telegram on 29 June. He recorded the statement from a limousine he was returning from a meeting with the Russian Deputy Prime Minister.
Initially, Kaliningrad wanted to cut Lithuania off from the connection to its energy system. The idea turned out to be too late, with the Lithuanians securing power supplies from other directions in advance. The Russians stooped to taking revenge on monuments and streets associated with Lithuania. In Sovetsk in the Kaliningrad region, a memorial plaque about the Lithuanian philosopher Vidunas was removed.
The blockade should be maintained and even strengthened.”
– The Russian side, citing Reuters reports, is building messages about the imminent end of the blockade. They are using this to create the image of a split in the EU and NATO and the impending defeat of the US. These actions are aimed at calming the mood in the Kaliningrad region and stimulating tensions within NATO – that is, halting the ‘US-Lithuanian provocation’, as the blockade is called, comments Michal Marek of the Centre for Contemporary Security Environment Studies, an expert in disinformation and propaganda applied to the war in Ukraine, for WP.
He stresses that Olaf Scholz’s statement will also be used for these purposes. The Russians will use Berlin’s stance, which is favourable from the Kremlin’s point of view, to lend credibility to their messages.
The expert admits that he finds the events surrounding the blockade worrying. – However, it is worth withholding final conclusions, as a number of statements and reports do not prejudge the issue. Unfortunately, there is still a view in countries such as Germany and France of the need to refrain from ‘radical steps’ towards Russia. The Kremlin, through its channels of influence, is actively lobbying the West for the blockade to be limited,” Michal Marek continues.
Scholz is a national embarrassment.
How…unexpected. Profit, profit uber alles.
I am going to be so pissed if the EU forces Lithuania to lift this restriction.
Lithuania needs to learn some tricks from French bureaucracy about how to officially be allowing things to happen but in reality it is go-slow mode that just pushes the responsibility from one place to another until the people just give up.
Yes of course we will give you this permit to cross, you just need to talk to my colleague, phone this number, the office is open from 11:30 to 12:00 every other Tuesday, make sure your dossier is complete as incomplete dossiers will not be accepted, the list of requirements can be downloaded from <ERROR 404>
Germany had been completely shameful with regarding Russia for years, but it’s stepped up to another level since the start of the war.
Well, MAYBE if we kowtow deep enough and are REALLY friendly AND SONT PROVOKE the great Putler, MAYBEMAYBE he will turn on the gasdick again for Germany, eh? Because clearly, appeasing this megalomaniac genocidal war criminal has been the way to go so far…
Him and his KGB cronies are correctly playing on EU (Germany) bending over backwards for him..
This whole story is just a lot of smoke, without any susbstance behind it, what advantages would a reduction in the rail connections form mailnad Russia to kalningrad would we obtain?
The impact on the overall economic situation is so negible that can be completely ignored, and yet people treat this as some sort of proof that the EU isnt standing against Russia.
8 comments
They had the right to say that it was a betrayal and a knife stabbed in the back for a country that had hit Russia hard. However, Lithuanian politicians showed class and did not attack German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for calling on Lithuania and the EU to lift the blockade of Kaliningrad. – These words were received with great surprise. And that’s all there was to it,” Lithuanian journalist Vytautas Janczys reports to WP.
d31obu2
– It is still difficult to judge what will happen regarding the Kaliningrad blockade. After Scholz’s words, the scales are tipping towards a loosening of the blockade, Witold Janczys, a Lithuanian journalist who writes about Russian affairs for the Delfi portal, tells Wirtualna Polska. The position of our politicians is that we seek the most severe sanctions possible. If the European Commission recommends the resumption of transports, it will probably do so, as Lithuania is unlikely to introduce the blockade itself,” he adds.
He stresses that the country finds itself in an embarrassing situation. On 17 June, Lithuanian customs officials, relying on recommendations from the European Commission, introduced a blockade of shipments from Russia to the Kaliningrad region. This prompted a series of ‘war threats’ from Russian politicians.
Lithuanian Speaker. “We will not be Russia’s backyard”.
A week ago, Lithuanian MEPs revealed that “one country is lobbying in the corridors of Brussels for a loosening of the blockade”. Without pointing the finger at whom they were referring to, they appealed to EC President Ursula von der Leyen not to give in to this pressure. It has been known since Thursday that Germany is behind the lobbying.
At a press conference at the Nato summit in Madrid, Olaf Scholz said that “it is a matter for the European Union to establish the necessary framework and rules” for the transport of goods from Russia to its enclave.
These rules “must always be established in the light of the fact that we are dealing here with traffic between two parts of Russia”. – I believe that all parties involved are now making great efforts to establish a de-escalation dynamic here,” the German politician added.
There have been claims in Lithuania that the country will lose its sovereignty because the Russian demand for a transport corridor from Russia to Kaliningrad will be realised. However, the president, prime minister and speaker of parliament are exercising restraint. – Lithuania will not become a transitional place, Russia’s backyard for Kaliningrad transit. It is important not to scare with such fears,” Parliament Speaker Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen stated on social media on Friday.
We will strive for the toughest possible sanctions against Russia and Belarus, a halt to the Russian war machine and a victory for Ukraine, the head of parliament added. She stressed that the decision on the shape of transport restrictions would be a joint Lithuanian-EU position.
Kaliningrad. This is how they take revenge for the blockade
The blockade of Kaliningrad has painfully hit the region’s economy. There is a shortage of cement, sheet metal and many other commodities necessary for companies. A few days ago, the region’s governor flew to Moscow in emergency mode to ask the deputy prime minister to allocate ships for the supplies to arrive. – Kaliningraders, the country is with us! And Lithuania will feel the answer,” he announced to Telegram on 29 June. He recorded the statement from a limousine he was returning from a meeting with the Russian Deputy Prime Minister.
Initially, Kaliningrad wanted to cut Lithuania off from the connection to its energy system. The idea turned out to be too late, with the Lithuanians securing power supplies from other directions in advance. The Russians stooped to taking revenge on monuments and streets associated with Lithuania. In Sovetsk in the Kaliningrad region, a memorial plaque about the Lithuanian philosopher Vidunas was removed.
The blockade should be maintained and even strengthened.”
– The Russian side, citing Reuters reports, is building messages about the imminent end of the blockade. They are using this to create the image of a split in the EU and NATO and the impending defeat of the US. These actions are aimed at calming the mood in the Kaliningrad region and stimulating tensions within NATO – that is, halting the ‘US-Lithuanian provocation’, as the blockade is called, comments Michal Marek of the Centre for Contemporary Security Environment Studies, an expert in disinformation and propaganda applied to the war in Ukraine, for WP.
He stresses that Olaf Scholz’s statement will also be used for these purposes. The Russians will use Berlin’s stance, which is favourable from the Kremlin’s point of view, to lend credibility to their messages.
The expert admits that he finds the events surrounding the blockade worrying. – However, it is worth withholding final conclusions, as a number of statements and reports do not prejudge the issue. Unfortunately, there is still a view in countries such as Germany and France of the need to refrain from ‘radical steps’ towards Russia. The Kremlin, through its channels of influence, is actively lobbying the West for the blockade to be limited,” Michal Marek continues.
Scholz is a national embarrassment.
How…unexpected. Profit, profit uber alles.
I am going to be so pissed if the EU forces Lithuania to lift this restriction.
Lithuania needs to learn some tricks from French bureaucracy about how to officially be allowing things to happen but in reality it is go-slow mode that just pushes the responsibility from one place to another until the people just give up.
Yes of course we will give you this permit to cross, you just need to talk to my colleague, phone this number, the office is open from 11:30 to 12:00 every other Tuesday, make sure your dossier is complete as incomplete dossiers will not be accepted, the list of requirements can be downloaded from <ERROR 404>
Germany had been completely shameful with regarding Russia for years, but it’s stepped up to another level since the start of the war.
Well, MAYBE if we kowtow deep enough and are REALLY friendly AND SONT PROVOKE the great Putler, MAYBEMAYBE he will turn on the gasdick again for Germany, eh? Because clearly, appeasing this megalomaniac genocidal war criminal has been the way to go so far…
Him and his KGB cronies are correctly playing on EU (Germany) bending over backwards for him..
This whole story is just a lot of smoke, without any susbstance behind it, what advantages would a reduction in the rail connections form mailnad Russia to kalningrad would we obtain?
The impact on the overall economic situation is so negible that can be completely ignored, and yet people treat this as some sort of proof that the EU isnt standing against Russia.