EU countries are very sensitive when it comes to sanctions on the food industry, said Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs deputy state secretary Andžejs Viļumsons in an interview to LTV programme “Kas notiek Latvijā?” on the 20th of December.
Latvia’s one-sided attempts to ban imports of Russian grains could lead to a violation procedure initiated by Brussels against Latvia.
“Whether this is tied to transit or imports – it’s not Latvia’s national competence, it’s the competence of the European Commission. The Latvian government cannot simply decide to ban imports or transit without paying attention to consequences,” said Viļumsons.
He reminded that the EU countries that decided to block Ukrainian grains (Poland, Hungary, Slovakia) have received a warning from Brussels, telling them such an act could be a violation of European law.
“There is a possibility of a violation procedure at the end of this process, and it could mean a fine of considerable size. If we want to ban imports, we have to reach a joint decision in the European Union, so that we are not at risk of a violation procedure from Brussels. We cannot really impose national sanctions, because the law states that they are allowed to be adopted only if it complies with Latvia’s international obligations. Because trade is the competence of the European Union, decisions regarding sanctions are required to be jointly-made decisions of all EU member states. We cannot impose sanctions on Russian grains on a national level – we can only do it through the European Union,” said the deputy state secretary in his interview.
“What we do nationally will be possible to go around through other EU member states,” said Viļumsons.
Also read: Latvian stevedores urge government to not stop transit of grains
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Ministry representative on grains: we need a joint decision from the European Union
