Lithuanian opera singer Vaidas Vyšniauskas says he went to Belarus at the invitation of an evangelical bishop and took part in pre-Christmas events to support his friends suffering repressions of the Minsk regime.
Vyšniauskas, who also goes by his stage name Kristian Benedikt, attracted controversy by performing at the National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Belarus last Sunday.
Read more: Lithuanian opera singer causes outrage by performing in Minsk
“I performed at a concert organised and directed by Oksana Volkova, my stage partner, a mezzo-soprano who has performed several times with the Kaunas Symphony Orchestra,” Vyšniauskas told Lithuanian journalist Rūta Janutienė on her YouTube programme OpTV on Thursday.
This was his first comment given to the media after the controversial performance.
“My motive was to pay a pre-Christmas visit and to say with that visit that you are my friends, even if there’s the Lukashenko regime, even if there’s a risk I will be provoked, if I go” Vyšniauskas added.
The singer said that some of his friends pastors were imprisoned in Belarus and their church buildings seized.
“Why would I disown them? Why would I turn my back on them? Belarus is full of people just like us who want freedom,” Vyšniauskas commented.
He said he went to Belarus at the invitation of his friends and “there was no Lukashenko or his elite” at the concert.
“I attended prayers and I mainly interacted with church members,” the opera singer said, adding that he only found out about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Belarus on Sunday.
Vyšniauskas’ performance in Belarus drew criticism from a number of public figures and politicians, including Culture Minister Simonas Kairys who said “such choices are incomprehensible to my common sense”.
Vyšniauskas told the programme that he had asked for a ten-minute meeting with Kairys, but the latter’s adviser said there was no time.
“I found his refusal very surprising,” Vyšniauskas said.
The opera singer said he would not travel to perform in Russia and that he supported Ukraine with prayers and regular donations.
“I have never and will never, as a Lithuanian citizen, justify any aggression, violence or terrorism,” Vyšniauskas insisted.
He now vows to continue performing in the West.
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