Lithuanian Seimas on Tuesday extended the state of emergency on the country’s borders with Russia and Belarus until May 2.
Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė told the parliament last week that she expected it to be the last extension of the state of emergency.
In her words, the legal regime has to remain in place until the parliament adopts separate laws on the restrictions that are now imposed under the state of emergency resolution.
The Seimas extended the state of emergency, set to expire on Thursday, March 16, until midnight of May 2.
The resolution on the state of emergency keeps the legal regime in place along the state borders with Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad region, and at border checkpoints outside the border area.
It also extends the existing entry ban on Russian citizens who do not meet certain criteria set by the government.
Under an agreement between the three Baltic states and Poland, only Russian diplomats, dissidents, employees of transport companies, EU citizens’ family members, and Russian citizens with residence permits or long-stay national visas from Schengen countries are allowed to cross the EU external border.
Russian citizens can also transit through Lithuania by train to and from the Kaliningrad exclave.
Russians and Belarusians remain subject to the existing visa restrictions, meaning that their visa applications would not be accepted unless requested by the Foreign Ministry.
The resolution also keeps in place the policy of turning away irregular migrants attempting to cross the EU’s external border at non-designated places. This does not apply to people fleeing military aggression or persecution.
The state of emergency was introduced nationwide on February 24, 2022, after Russia launched its war against Ukraine, and has since been extended several times.
Last September, the state of emergency was limited to the borders with Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, as well as border checkpoints outside Lithuania’s border area.
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