Lithuanian border guards stop 153 Russians over first week of Russian travel ban

Lithuanian border guards barred entry to 153 Russian citizens last week, the State Border Guard Service (VSAT) told BNS.

Out of the 1,330 Russian citizens who planned to come to Lithuania on Sunday, 13 were barred from doing so, Giedrius Mišutis, spokesman for the SBGS, said.

A total of 9,896 Russian citizens came to Lithuania last week.

Several incidents were also recorded on the border with Belarus when Russians dissatisfied with the decision not to allow them to enter tried to stay in Lithuania, Mišutis said.

One Russian citizen attempting to cross the border through the Raigardas-Privalka border checkpoint refused to return to where he came from by lying on the ground, but the man was later taken outside the border by officers.

Another case was recorded on Saturday when a Russian citizen attempted to enter the country without a visa via the Medininkai checkpoint. After Lithuanian officials refused to let him in, the man remained on the Belarusian side until Monday. According to the VSAT, he tore up his documents.

In Latvia, 48 Russians out of 2,075 arrivals were refused entry during the week (compared to seven on Sunday), and in Estonia, 155 Russian citizens were refused entry until Saturday (compared to 38 on Saturday). In total, 10,236 Russians entered Estonia las week, excluding the Sunday data that is not yet available.

A checkpoint on the Russia-Estonia border | Vida Press

Border guards have the right to cancel or revoke the visa of a Russian citizen who does not meet the admission criteria in Lithuania. No visas, however, have been revoked so far, the VSAT said.

Since last Monday, Lithuania is not letting in Russian citizens with tourist visas issued by other Schengen area EU member states.

Only those who meet the criteria approved by the government are allowed to enter the Baltic states and Poland. These include 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.

Russian citizens can also continue to transit through Lithuania by train to and from the Kaliningrad region.

The ban on the admission of Russian citizens is part of a resolution adopted by the Lithuanian parliament on the declaration of a state of emergency in areas along the border with Russia and Belarus. It will remain in force at least until December 16.