A court in western Lithuania has issued an arrest warrant for a man who is suspected of abducting his child and illegally crossing the Lithuanian-Russian state border.
The Kretinga court issued the arrest warrant for Algirdas Svanys, a Klaipėda district resident, in absentia.
The pre-trial investigation into the suspected child abduction was opened after the nine-month-old girl's mother, who has custody of the child, complained to the Klaipėda district police on August 27 that the 37-year-old man had taken their daughter and failed to return her at the agreed time.
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The man and his daughter crossed the Skirvytė River, which marks the border between Lithuania and Russia, by boat on the same day.
Under Lithuania's Criminal Code, "a father, mother or a close relative who abducts their own or their relatives' young child from [...] a person with whom the child lawfully resides" may face up to two years in prison.
A person who crosses the state border illegally may face a fine, arrest or imprisonment for up to two years.
‘Not simple’
Lithuania's authorities are doing all they can to bring back home the girl unlawfully taken to Russia by her father, but the process will not be easy, President Gitanas Nausėda said on Friday.
"Our institutions are doing their best," the president told reporters. "Contacts have now been established with the Russian authorities."
"I can see that such cooperation is taking place. International conventions and agreements oblige even countries like Russia to at least demonstrate or simulate some kind of cooperation," he added.
Russia refuses to hand the child and the man over to Lithuania, saying that he holds both Russian and Lithuanian passports.
Nausėda reiterated on Friday that Lithuania must do everything possible to return the girl to her mother.
"We can't accept and tolerate such things and I do hope that, thanks to our authorities, the process will get moving, even though it must be admitted that the man who took the girl had prepared and planned this in advance," the president said.
"This is not a simple political and legal process," he added.
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