Lithuania has tightened transit between Russia and its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, but the scheme will remain in place throughout the coronavirus quarantine, Foreign Minister Linas Linekvičius said.
“We are trying to preserve that transit in principle, but certainly it has been restricted: the number of trains has been limited and up to 100 passengers [...] are allowed per train,” Linkevičius said at a news conference on Wednesday. “It takes place only via the Kena and Kybartai border crossings.”
“Of course, I mean non-stop transit via our territory,” he added.
The Kaliningrad transit scheme sees 400,000 Russian citizens cross Lithuania's territory under the facilitated procedure annually. Lithuania is seeking over 200 million euros in EU funding for the programme in the bloc's 2021-2027 budget.
Lithuania, like many other European countries, has closed its borders for foreign nationals due to the coronavirus pandemic, but has allowed transit by people returning to their countries.
LRT English Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
