Three years ago, Lithuania welcomed thousands of Belarusians fleeing repressions at home. Now that their residence permits are up for renewal, they find the atmosphere much more hostile.
A sizeable exodus of Belarusians came to Lithuania in 2020, following massive crackdowns on protesters dissatisfied with the Minsk government’s election rigging. Back then, Vilnius enthusiastically supported the Belarusian opposition and welcomed people fleeing the repressions.
In particular, Lithuania was seeking to attract high-skilled IT professionals. Entire Belarusian tech companies moved to Vilnius, bringing in thousands of their workers. They were easily granted temporary residence permits, but, three years later, it is time to renew them. And the welcoming atmosphere in Lithuania has changed considerably.
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Vilnius holds that Belarus is equally responsible for Russia’s attack on Ukraine and has therefore imposed restrictions on Belarusian citizens. Importantly, those seeking a visa or a residence permit are now given a special questionnaire intended to test their loyalties, with questions such as who is responsible for the war in Ukraine and to which country Crimea belongs to.
It is on the suspicions of disloyalty that many Belarusians get their applications rejected.
“Belarusian citizens respond differently [to the questionnaire]. Some support military action in Ukraine, some believe that Crimea belongs to Russia,” says Lucija Voišnis, deputy director of the Migration Department.
Moreover, she adds, they are asked about their military service and if they indicate that they have served, that’s another red flag. “This is the basis for examining and assessing all this information and making appropriate decisions,” she says.
“A lot of different facts come to light, that [the applicants] served in repressive structures, they were full-time employees of repressive structures, they may have been involved in provocative activities, it’s a whole complex of factors,” Deputy Foreign Minister Arnoldas Abramavičius gives examples of why an application can be rejected.
Many Belarusians still receive temporary residence permits in Lithuania, almost 20,000 in the last six months alone.
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However, the number of rejections is growing. Recommendations to refuse residence often come from the State Security Department (VSD), Lithuania’s intelligence agency, which assesses each application individually.
Conservative MP Laurynas Kasčiūnas insists it is normal that many people previously granted residence are now found undesirables in the country.
“People who originally obtained a residence permit in Lithuania no longer have that option, because they apparently thought it was a permanent solution. No, it is not a permanent solution. If you can’t prove your loyalty to Lithuania by your actions and if you can in fact serve Russian interests, you do not belong in Lithuania,” says the conservative MP.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy underlines the economic benefits that Lithuania derives from welcoming high-skilled Belarusian labour. It was on the ministry’s initiative that so many could easily obtain residence three years ago.
“We have calculated that over the last year, the state received around 90 million euros of net revenue from the IT sector alone due to the relocated [Belarusian] companies,” says Deputy Economy Minister Karolis Žemaitis. “Through employment, through additional consumption, through taxes […]. We can talk about very direct economic benefits.”
However, not all are convinced. Economist Aleksandras Izgorodinas from the ISM University of Management and Economics,thinks Lithuania should seek IT specialists from other countries.
“We need to look in parallel at the possibility of importing these specialists from other countries that are friendly, and at the possibility of producing these specialists ourselves,” he tells LRT TV. “Belarus is certainly not some kind of a magic recipe that can solve all our IT shortage problems.”
Belarusians denied residence permits have to leave the country within a month. If their actions are deemed detrimental to national security, they get deported immediately.
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