Lithuania Prepares Response To Minsk's Blocking Of Railway Freight Transit

The action will be both symmetrical and asymmetrical.

Lithuania may introduce reciprocal measures in response to the decision of Belarus to block the transit of railway cargo from Lithuania since February 7. This was stated by adviser of the Lithuanian president for national security, Darius Kuliešius, reports LRT. He says that "the ruling regime in a neighboring country takes decisions not following the generally recognized law," so one must be prepared "for both symmetrical and asymmetrical actions".

Darius Kuliešius says it's still difficult to assess the reality of Belarus' intention to ban transit of goods by rail from Lithuania. In his opinion, it is necessary to be ready "to defend the interests of Lithuania and its businessmen by political and legal means".

"We can't guarantee that these are the real intentions, but if so, they will definitely have a negative impact on the Lithuanian companies operating in this area. Such statements, threats and possible actions of Belarus should be assessed and evaluated, while the interests of Lithuania and its businessmen must be protected by political and legal means, and alternatives to restrictive measures must be prepared," said Darius Kuliešius.

He added that he hopes that the Lithuanian government, assessing the impact of actions of Belarus, "will soon report more on this".

Lithuanian Prime Minister: "We are assessing the possible impact of Minsk threats".

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Shimonite says that threats from Minsk not to let trains from Lithuania are now being assessed and the possible impact and alternative solutions are being decided upon.

"We regard them as threats, which must be taken seriously, because even though such threats sometimes seem strange or incomprehensible, we have experience when such threats have been carried out. This was the situation with the organization of illegal migration at the borders of the European Union. This was also a threat by Minsk, organized with the help of the Minsk regime," said the Prime Minister of Lithuania.

She underlined that disputes should be settled in a civilized and legal manner. "That is the way we could have followed, but these threats, I do not know how well they will be carried out, but we are assessing what their impact could be and deciding what the alternative solutions in such a case could be," said Shimonite.

Minister of Economy and Innovation of Lithuania Aušrinė Armonaitė spoke about calculating the likely losses for the economy, if Belarus stops letting Lithuanian trains through. She said that there are theoretical models, but it's impossible to specify the scale of the damage. "We don't know what kind of retaliatory sanctions Belarus may undertake. There are some models, but so far it's impossible to give a specific figure, because the situation is changing," said Aušrinė Armonaitė.

Meanwhile, Lithuanian Finance Minister Gintarė Skaistė believes that the decision of Belarus to ban transit from Lithuania should not have a significant impact on the Lithuanian economy. According to her, it is possible to build another logistic chain due to the high demand for the goods, going by transit through Belarus.

"We are working with specific companies to solve their problems, and the situation is really manageable. I don't think there will be any significant impact on the economy," said Gintarė Skaistė.

According to the Minister of Finance, specific assistance to Lithuanian companies is not considered because of the potential increase in costs caused by transit of Lithuanian goods through Belarus, but universal measures are being developed to overcome trade restrictions with third countries.