In a bid to prevent sanctioned goods from reaching Russia, Vilnius is seeking approval from Brussels for a national ban on shipping some goods out of Lithuania, Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Tuesday.
“To the extent that we are discussing them today, these would be restrictions on the exit from Lithuanian territory of certain goods bound for third countries,” Landsbergis told reporters.
“This means that there would be a blanket restriction on the export [of certain goods] to other countries even though they are not at war because we simply cannot regulate everything,” he added.
According to the minister, such a ban would primarily apply to dual-use goods.
“We are currently discussing with our partners in Brussels the application of national restrictions,” Landsbergis said. “European law allows applying certain restrictions, in particular on dual-use goods, if they reach a state waging war.”
If adopted, such a decision would allow Lithuania to ban the export of certain goods unilaterally, without the consent of other EU members, according to Landsbergis.
In his words, a national decision to restrict the exit of goods would not mean that Lithuania is not satisfied with the EU’s overall sanctions policy.
“Sanctions circumvention did not exist before because there were not so many sanctions against a country like Russia,” Landsbergis said.
“This is a new political phenomenon that requires a new political response, which is why the EU is creating instruments that have not been needed for decades,” he added.
The Bank of Lithuania estimates that the country’s total export to Russia fell by 4 percent between the start of the war and the end of 2022, but its exports to other CIS markets rose by 4.2 percent.
It is believed that sanctioned goods are shipped to Russia under the guise of re-exports.
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