Photo: Pixabay.com.
China removed Lithuania from customs systems after Vilnius decided to open an official Taiwan office.
Lithuanian companies are now facing problems with customs clearance of goods in Chinese ports. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielyus Landsbergis described the incident as an unprecedented case of imposing sanctions on one of the EU states.
“We cannot impose retaliatory sanctions because we are unable to remove one or another Chinese company from the customs system,” said the head of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, explaining that the customs systems are regulated by the European Commission.
Landsbergis stressed that the European institutions should now intervene and represent Lithuania.