Lithuania strengthens control over freight trains with X-ray facility at border station

MADRID, 7 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Lithuania decided on Thursday to strengthen control over freight trains entering the country and to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad by installing an X-ray scanning system at the Kenna station on the border with Belarus.

The mechanism, designed to work 24 hours a day, scans trains going in both directions at speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour in automatic mode, which allows the control of all goods with an average of eight or nine trains per day.

According to Lithuanian Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste, the main purpose of installing a new control system is to prevent smuggling, as well as to protect the country's national security interests.

For his part, the general director of the customs department, Darius Zvironas, has assured that "the new X-ray control system will not only facilitate the work of customs officials, but will also save money."

The Ministry of Finance has estimated the cost of the project at 5.6 million, which has been promoted "due to the change in the geopolitical situation", according to Karolis Sankovski, the CEO of the company that has won the tender, LTG Infra.

Since June 17, the sanctions of the European Union on the transport of steel and ferrous metals through Lithuania to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad in the Baltic Sea have been in force. It should also be remembered that as of July 10, restrictions were also imposed on the transit of cement, alcohol, and luxury goods, and as of August 10, on coal and other solid fossil fuels.

As a consequence of the start of these sanctions, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the head of the Lithuanian diplomatic mission, Virginia Umbrasene, to protest this decision and demanded that these restrictions be lifted "immediately".

Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov joined the criticism, saying Vilnius' decision was "unprecedented" as these "provocative measures" violated international agreements.