Lithuania’s Culture Ministry has issued advise to event organisers not to invite Russian artists to the country, unless they publicly condemn Vladimir Putin’s regime.
“Cultural institutions, associations and event organisers are reminded of the recommendations of the Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs to temporarily restrict cooperation and not to invite Russian performers and cultural figures to Lithuania, except those who have publicly condemned the Kremlin regime’s military aggression against Ukraine and the democratic world,” the ministry said in a statement on Friday.
Read more: Lithuanian ministry finds no legal grounds to bar entry to Ukrainian singer Loboda
EU member states were earlier asked to do so by Ukrainian Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko during a meeting of EU culture ministers in Brussels, the statement reads.
The Ukrainian minister also urged EU member states to refrain from implementing cultural projects involving Russia or funded by Russian companies.
The Ukrainian minister also called for greater support for Ukrainian culture within the EU, and for Russian representatives to be restricted from international cultural events, unless they have publicly and explicitly condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Lithuania restricts entry for Russian citizens under a joint agreement with the other Baltic states and Poland. Only Russian diplomats, dissidents, employees of transport companies, family members of EU citizens, and Russians with residence permits or long-stay national visas from Schengen countries can enter Lithuania.
Visa applications from Russian nationals are not accepted at the moment.
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