Lithuania on Thursday criticized the «missed opportunity» of the EU-27 for the new round of sanctions against Russia in retaliation for aggression in Ukraine, after overcoming the reluctance of Poland and Lithuania who demanded guarantees to ensure that the impact of the measures was not minimized with exemptions on the transport of Russian fertilizers.
«It is sad that we have spent more time discussing exemptions than tougher sanctions,» Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielus Landsbergis lamented in a social media post in which he described this sanctions package as a «missed opportunity.»
In fact, the Lithuanian foreign minister has stressed that together with Poland, the Baltic country has obtained «optional security safeguards» that close possible «loopholes» in Russian maritime transport of fertilizers and foodstuffs. «Lithuania will choose to keep the doors closed,» he noted.
Poland and Lithuania maintained their blockade of the new round of sanctions because of their opposition to relaxing certain measures on the maritime transport of fertilizer and foodstuffs linked to Russian oligarchs under the pretext of food safety. Also of concern was the extension of some sectoral sanctions that expire in January and whose renewal depends on a decision to 27.
Six Member States with port interests, including Spain, had circulated a document to define the derogations and ensure that they are limited exclusively to the maritime transport of food and fertilizers to allow them to reach developing countries, soothing criticism from Warsaw and Vilnius.
In the end, there will be derogations as requested by the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Spain and France, which consider that the current legal situation contributes to criticism that the sanctions actually hinder trade in food and fertilizer.
Therefore, they demanded «urgently an exemption for agricultural products, including fertilizers subject to restrictive sectoral measures, stating that asset freezing measures should not apply to funds or economic resources that are strictly necessary for the purchase, sale, import, export or transport of food and agricultural products from or through Russia or Ukraine,» according to the proposal accessed by Europa Press.
