Lithuania closes borders to Russians with Schengen tourist visas

A ban on Russian nationals with tourist visas entering Lithuania comes into effect on Monday. The same ban is also introduced by Latvia, Estonia, and Poland.

Under the criteria approved by the government, Lithuanian border guards will allow in Russian diplomats, dissidents, employees of transport companies, family members of EU citizens, as well as Russians with residence permits or long-stay national visas from Schengen countries.

Moreover, Russian citizens will be able to transit through Lithuania by train to and from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

The ban is part of a resolution adopted by the Lithuanian parliament to keep a state of emergency at the border with Russia and Belarus. It will remain in force at least until December 16.

Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė says the decision to bar Russian citizens “is dictated by national security interests”.

This is expected to act as a deterrent to prevent Russian citizens who do not meet the criteria set by the government from trying to enter the country, Bilotaitė said.

Lithuania and other eastern EU member states tried to get the European Union to introduce a blanket ban on Russians with tourist visas to enter the Schengen zone. However, the plan was rejected. The Baltic states and Poland then opted for a “regional solution”.

Rustamas Liubajevas | J. Stacevičiaus / LRT nuotr.

Questions about attitude to war

Rustamas Liubajevas, head of the State Border Guard Service (VSAT), commented on Monday morning that eleven Russian citizens had been denied entry to Lithuania between midnight and 09:00 on Monday. Most of them tried to enter the country through the Kybartai checkpoint.

“All the others tried to enter via the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. In the morning, I managed to talk to my Latvian colleague, the head of the border guard service. According to his information, as of midnight, there were no citizens of the Russian Federation who had been refused entry to Latvia,” said Liubajevas.

People coming to Lithuania for humanitarian reasons will be asked to provide additional documents, Liubajevas noted, proving that they are being persecuted by the Russian government.

“We also plan to have border guards assess the attitude of each arriving [Russian] citizen towards the war in Ukraine, which will be one of the arguments used to decide whether or not to allow them to enter,” the border guard chief said.