Vytautas Abukauskas, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, will attend a meeting of the European Union (EU) Agriculture and Fisheries Council on Tuesday, where he will urge the Community institutions to tighten restrictions on imports of Russian food and cereals.

„The European Commission will be urged to take stricter measures to restrict imports of food products of Russian and Belarusian origin and grain from Russia into the EU market, the Agriculture Ministry told BNS. 

According to the ministry, the council meeting will also discuss the current crisis situation in the agricultural sector, the impact of the mišck eradication regulation on the European agricultural and mišcine industries, as well as the results of the meeting of the Nordic and Baltic ministers responsible for agriculture and other issues.

The Council of Community Ministers responsible for agriculture and fisheries comes days after the European Commission (EC) published a proposal to impose maximum tariffs on imports of Russian and Belarusian cereals into the EU.

The Commission's proposal was welcomed by both the EU leader Gitanas Nausėda and the Minister of Agriculture Kęstutis Navickas.

However, similar restrictive measures could also be considered for meat, poultry and milk, he said. In addition, the Agriculture Minister said that Lithuania would continue to push for EU restrictions on the transit of Russian agricultural products as well.

Last Wednesday, Lithuania, together with Latvia, Estonia, Poland and the Czech Republic, called on the EC to ban all imports of grain from Russia and Belarus into the EU. The appeal was initiated by Lithuania.