Russians have found a way to get to Europe cheaply. The Moscow-Kaliningrad transit train stops at the Kena station in Lithuania for technical inspection, and the Russians take off. This should not be happening, the President’s Office says.
While the Moscow-Kaliningrad train undergoes technical inspection at Kena, documents of those travelling to Kaliningrad are being checked. But when the train stops, some people get off, although this is not in their itinerary.
The State Border Guard Service (VSAT) says Russians with residence permits or other documents that entitle them to stay in Lithuania end their journey here. Stopping this flow of people is tricky, as it is not only Russians who disembark the Moscow-Kaliningrad train in Kena.
“For example, last year, 1,000 Israeli citizens, 800 Lithuanian citizens, about 200 Italian citizens, about 200 German citizens, about 200 Ukrainian citizens, and about 150 US citizens got off the train here,” says Giedrius Mišutis, the VSAT spokesperson.
After Lithuania barred cars with Russian registration plates from entering the country, the Kena train station became the main gateway for Russians trying to reach Europe via Lithuania.
Russians who do not have the right to visit Lithuania are also getting off the train in Kena, according to MP Laurynas Kasčiūnas, chair of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence.
“Those who want to come to Lithuania, if they have the right to do so, should take other routes. And those for whom this is a way to go somewhere else in Europe and who have no right to be in Lithuania should not be allowed to disembark in Kena,” Kasčiūnas said.
The President’s Office also notes that there is no passenger stop in Kena, so people should not get off the train. This is also not an agreed condition in the Russia-Kaliningrad transit agreement.
However, word of mouth is spreading that Kena is like a window to Europe for the Russians, and this must be stopped, according to Kęstutis Budrys, the national security adviser to President Gitanas Nausėda.
“Controls should be enforced, but passengers should not be allowed to disembark and thus we should inform everybody in the future not to buy tickets to Kaliningrad if they want to disembark in Lithuania,” he says.
But the National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC) says there will be no quick solutions because people with the necessary documents have the right to request to disembark in Lithuania when they arrive from Moscow, as guaranteed by the Schengen Agreement.
“Controlling Kaliningrad’s transit flows and ensuring security is our main task. And that border post is needed to prevent everyone from passing through Lithuania, and our border guards have the right to get on the train, check all passengers, and then allow or deny them to continue their journey,” says Vilmantas Vitkauskas, the NKVC head.
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