Lithuania's Foreign Ministry is urging people not to travel to Belarus despite its government’s introduction of a visa-free regime for Lithuanian and Latvian citizens as of April 15.
“The recommendation not to visit Belarus is still valid in Lithuania. First of all, because of the country’s actions against its own citizens but also because of its involvement in Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine,” Vytautė Smaižytė-Kuliešienė, spokeswoman for the foreign minister, told BNS on Thursday.
Vilnius has not received any official information from Minsk regarding the possibility for Lithuanian citizens to visit the country visa-free, she added.
The Belarusian border service announced on Thursday that Latvian and Lithuanian citizens would be able to enter the country visa-free from April 15 to May 15 because of the upcoming Orthodox and Catholic religious festivals.
People will be able to make multiple trips and visit the entire territory of Belarus, it added. Moreover, they will not need permits to visit the border area but will only be required to notify the border guards of such intentions in advance.
In response to this announcement, Latvia’s Foreign Ministry also advised its citizens against travelling to Belarus.
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