There are no grounds to change Lithuania's existing policy toward the Belarusian diaspora, Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen.
Her comment follows news that over 900 Belarusian nationals had their visa or residency permit applications denied, or had their documents revoked after being declared a threat to national security.
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"This is not a reason to fundamentally review our policy towards the Belarusian diaspora," she told the Žinių Radijas radio on Wednesday.
A total of 1,164 Belarusians and Russians have been deemed a threat to national security after Lithuania introduced a special questionnaire for Russian and Belarusian citizens in late 2022. In it, they are asked to declare their past ties and express views on issues, such as the Russian annexation of Crimea.
"The fact that around one thousand people are considered by the services to be a threat is a signal that could indicate that not everything was properly analysed initially when residence permits were granted," she said.
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