The Kaliningrad case seen by ambassadors and analysts
Kaliningrad, what is happening. Facts, comments and insights
The standoff over Kaliningrad continues, the Russian exclave of 15,000 km and 500,000 inhabitants on the Baltic Sea, whose borders are embraced by Lithuania and Poland, two countries of the European Union and NATO. The supply takes place through a 35 km corridor, called the Suwalki corridor or passage, but from midnight on June 18 – as foreseen by the EU sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine – Vilnius suspended the transit on its territory of some goods.
STRIKE AND RESPONSE RUSSIA-EU
Russia, as Start wrote a few days ago, responded by threatening Lithuania and also the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, reiterated that Moscow's response will not be "diplomatic", but "practical".
On the other hand, it was repeated by Brussels that Lithuania's action is not a unilateral decision – as the Kremlin claims – but only the implementation of what was unanimously decided by the EU countries. The supply of essential goods to Kaliningrad remains unhindered and, therefore, no embargo or total blockade is underway as the goods concerned are exclusively those under sanctions.
THE REVIEW OF THE GUIDELINES ON SANCTIONS
However, to soften the tone and try not to further aggravate relations with Russia, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said that "the European Commission will clarify the guidelines [ on sanctions, ed ] because we do not want to block or prevent traffic between Russia and Kaliningrad ".
According to what Repubblica writes, the European Commission could "introduce a sort of 'easement', that is the possibility of crossing the countries of the European Union to reach Kaliningrad […] Basically, Brussels will offer an interpretation of the sanctions for which the passage of Lithuania – in particularly from Belarus – it will be a sort of 'easement' (as required by Italian private law and by almost all European countries), the obligation to accept the passage only to reach the destination ".
Borrell explained that the objectives are two: to prevent the evasion of sanctions and not to block traffic. Without, however, minimizing controls by letting weapons that could hit neighboring countries enter the exclave.
FOR PONTECORVO (FORMER BORN) THOSE OF BORRELL ARE BALES
The ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo, former high civilian representative of NATO in Afghanistan, is of a completely different opinion, who speaking at L'aria che tira su La7 said that what Vilnius has done "is not legitimate from any point of view because this is an interpretation of the sanctions by the Lithuanians ”.
The diplomat then lashed out at Borrell: "Borrell also said that it is legitimate, it is bullshit, it is not legitimate and it is a finger in the eye of the Russians politically, it is a sign of escalation and it is madness from a point of view politic".
And here Pontecorvo argues that Lithuania is acting at the hands of someone else: “Right now we have to ask ourselves what's behind it. Lithuanians know very well that this is not a neutral measure. Is Lithuania going to do such a thing by itself? Taking responsibility for doing something like this that puts a finger, or rather a fist, in the eye of the Russians without saying anything to anyone? I don't believe it ".
The same question is posed by the journalist of La Stampa , Domenico Quirico, who writes: "Now an ill-shrewd, unfortunate decision by the government of Vilnius (but is it possible that it is only hers, that she dared alone?) Has blocked the connection and 'isolated [Kaliningrad, ed ] from Moscow, offering a perfect pretext for Putin. […] If the autocrat of Moscow unleashes the Third World War, the pretext will be found here, not in the Donbass or in the Crimea ”.
Pontecorvo then adds: "I don't want to put the Russian invasion on the same level with this Kaliningrad stuff but if international law is to be safeguarded, the Russian right to pass through there, cross the land and arrive [in the exclave, ed .] Is internationally sanctioned ".
Finally, it is recalled that if the goods were made to arrive by sea, the Russians would have to cross seas that are under the jurisdiction of two countries, Sweden and Finland, which are preparing to apply for NATO membership.
BECAUSE THE ONE IN MOSCOW ON KALININGRAD IS PROPAGANDA
Marco Di Liddo of the International Study Center (Ce.SI) reiterates, however, that Lithuania has not imposed any total blocking of the traffic of goods and services, there is no intention to isolate the exclave and reduce its population to the limit. , as stated by Moscow, in a strategy that even Borrell defined as "false and pure propaganda".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/il-caso-kaliningrad-visto-da-ambasciatori-e-analisti/ on Fri, 24 Jun 2022 09:54:06 +0000.