Russia Bans Lithuanian Dairy Products, Demands End to Flirtation with EU

Russia has announced that it will be banning some imports of dairy products from Lithuania due to alleged quality and safety concerns, with the measure taking effect this past Monday. The move is the latest salvo in a growing row between the EU and Russia over trade with Eastern European nations.

The dairy industry is responsible for about one-fifth of Lithuania’s agricultural production, with the Russian market accounting for about 85 percent of the Baltic state’s total dairy exports.

Lithuania, which is the current holder of the EU’s rotating presidency, is hosting the bloc’s Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius this November. Leaders hope to finalise at the meeting a series of EU association agreements with several former ex-Soviet countries, specifically Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.

Moscow, however, has sharply criticised its neighbours’ - particularly Kiev’s - plans to ink such deals, over fears that this could jeopardise Russia’s own plans to bring these countries into its customs union with Belarus and Kazakhstan.