Russia and the European Union – of which Lithuania holds the rotating presidency – are each trying to convince Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to join their respective trade blocs.
Russia last week introduced lengthy extra checks on trucks and goods originating from Lithuania, a former Soviet republic which has a large trucking and warehousing industry due to its strategic location between Russia and the EU.
"In our view, there appears to be no justification for such action by the Russian authorities which substantially disrupts trade," said John Clancy, spokesman for Europe's trade commissioner, Karel De Gucht. "In this respect, we expect the Russian authorities to immediately lift such unjustified restrictions."
Russia started subjecting Lithuanian-registered passenger cars to lengthy border checks in August, causing the number of crossings to fall 90%.
Lithuania called for European action under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules in a letter sent to the Commission on Tuesday.
"We consider these restrictive measures applied by the Russian Federation absolutely ungrounded, discriminatory and violating commitments of the Russian Federation to the WTO," said the letter signed by Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius.
Read more: EU: Russia must stop extra border checks from Lithuania :: The Baltic Course | Baltic States news & analytics
Russia last week introduced lengthy extra checks on trucks and goods originating from Lithuania, a former Soviet republic which has a large trucking and warehousing industry due to its strategic location between Russia and the EU.
"In our view, there appears to be no justification for such action by the Russian authorities which substantially disrupts trade," said John Clancy, spokesman for Europe's trade commissioner, Karel De Gucht. "In this respect, we expect the Russian authorities to immediately lift such unjustified restrictions."
Russia started subjecting Lithuanian-registered passenger cars to lengthy border checks in August, causing the number of crossings to fall 90%.
Lithuania called for European action under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules in a letter sent to the Commission on Tuesday.
"We consider these restrictive measures applied by the Russian Federation absolutely ungrounded, discriminatory and violating commitments of the Russian Federation to the WTO," said the letter signed by Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius.
Read more: EU: Russia must stop extra border checks from Lithuania :: The Baltic Course | Baltic States news & analytics
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