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On Tuesday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius sent a letter to the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, the Vice-President of the European Commission Siim Kallas and the European Commissioners Algirdas Šemeta, Karel De Gucht and Štefan Füle.

The Minister in his letter informs the EU institutions that on 11 September, the  Russian Federation Customs started a thorough check procedure for freight and carriers from Lithuania, which signifficantly affects mutual trade and transport system. The attention of the Commission was also drawn to the fact that passenger vehicles registered in Lithuania had been undergoing a thorough  check procedure at the Lithuanian-Russian state border since 30th August. Because of these procedures, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry was forced to recommend that the citizens of Lithuania  refrain from unnecessary travel to the Kaliningrad Region.

“These discriminatory measures are not justified and have a negative effect on the competitiveness of the transport sector and trading system of both Lithuania and the European Union,” the Minister writes in his letter. “Upon its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Russia has made a legally binding commitment to refrain from taking actions which are not compatible with the WTO Agreement; however, Russia’s current actions show the opposite”.

The Lithuanian Foreign Minister expressed his belief that the European Commission would urge Russia to respect international obligations and to stop applying discriminatory measures against Lithuanian natural or legal persons.

On 13 September, the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs held an interinstitutional meeting to discuss Russia’s actions. Russia’s Ambassador to Lithuania Vladimir Chkhikvadze was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania over Russia’s discriminatory measures against Lithuanian natural and legal persons on 2 and 13 September.