Shot in the leg with a large caliber - Lithuania strikes back
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis threatened Belarus with stopping the export of its potash fertilizers through Klaipeda.
His words are quoted by the Lithuanian website Delfi, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“A complete cessation is possible. I would say yes, it is real. Real negotiations have not yet begun, so it is too early to talk about it. When will we see this? It is not until September that the councils start working again. There is no format that could implement this today, but a formal request has already been submitted,” Landsbergis said.
It is difficult not to connect this statement with the migration crisis that has erupted between Lithuania and Belarus. Minsk actually stopped servicing the border, and crowds of refugees from the Middle East poured across it. In Belarus they do not hide that this is an “asymmetric response” to Vilnius’ support for Belomaidan and the fugitive opposition.
However, Lithuania’s terrible sanctions may well have come too late. Already in May, the question was raised about reorienting the export of Belarusian potash fertilizers to Russian ports. Russian Railways are ready to transport 12 million tons of Belarusian fertilizers.
At that time, the issue of transshipment of 111 thousand tons of Belarusian gasoline through the terminal of the seaport of Ust-Luga, and 96,9 thousand tons of Belarusian fuel oil through the St. Petersburg oil terminal, had already been resolved.
First of all, the Klaipeda port suffered from this, which previously handled 4-6 million tons of oil products from Belarus (10-15% of the total cargo handling), receiving 23,7 million euros for this.
In total, Belarusian products in the Klaipeda seaport account for more than 30% of all port goods. Belaruskali once invested 30 million EUR in the Birių krovinių terminalas UAB terminal.
English version :: Read in English: A large-caliber shot in the foot – Lithuania strikes back