Lithuanian restrictions on transit to Kaliningrad anger Russia

Kaliningrad, a strategic territory landlocked by the European UnionVilnius has therefore prohibited, since this weekend, the passage through its territory of goods on the list of European sanctions against Russia. This concerns in particular construction materials, chemical products or even computers and mobile phones, which until now passed through Lithuania by train. Before the Second World War, Kaliningrad was called Königsberg and belonged to Germany. When the Nazi regime fell in 1945, this small piece of territory came under Soviet control and changed its name. Then, when the Baltic countries took their independence, after the end of the USSR, Russia kept its enclave. The advantage of the territory of Kaliningrad is to be spared by the lowest temperatures, and therefore to be accessible by sea even in winter. A strategic asset at the military level, especially during the Cold War. Moscow has stationed many warships there. In recent years, especially since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia has also sent planes and missiles there capable of carrying nuclear warheads and reaching the capitals of Western Europe. In the current context in Ukraine, it is a significant means of pressure. And that worries the neighbors in the first place: Lithuania, Poland and Sweden.Justine Fontaine,
international department