Lithuania has put two more Russian singers on its persona non grata list because of their concerts held in the occupied Crimea.
On Friday, Lithuania's Migration Department put Natasha Korolyova and Khabib Sharipov on the list of persons who are barred from coming to Lithuania. They will not be allowed to enter the country until January 21, 2027.
Lithuanian MP Laurynas Kasčiūnas, chairman of the Committee on National Security and Defence, and another committee member turned to the Foreign Ministry last week over the two artists who were scheduled to perform in Lithuania.
Sharipov's concert in Vilnius, which had to take place on Sunday night, was canceled.
“We received a letter that the person is not welcome in Lithuania. The argument is the concert for children in Sevastopol. We were notified today,” Marek Gyrnovič, a spokesman for the concert organisers, said.
The singer learned that he'd not be allowed into Lithuania when he was about to board a plane in Helsinki, Gyrnovič said: “He went through passport checks and he just could not get on the plane.”
Kasčiūnas says event organisers should evaluate the “geopolitical situation” before inviting Russian performers.
“We are probably minutes from direct military action against our friend Ukraine. Such concerts are in fact a misunderstanding. We wish there were no need for any bans and safeguards from the state, that organisers were aware enough themselves,” he said.
Lithuania has previously blacklisted Russian singers Oleg Gazmanov, Grigory Lepsveridze, and Philip Kirkorov for similar reasons. The latter appealed the decision with Lithuanian courts, but eventually lost the case.
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