Six out of ten Lithuanians would support more restrictions on Belarusian nationals entering their country, according to a poll commissioned by LRT.
According to the survey, 60.61 percent of respondents believe that stricter entry conditions should apply to Belarusian citizens. Women, people aged over 50, and residents of rural areas and smaller towns were more likely to support stricter conditions. The 18–29 age group was the least likely to support them.
Overall, 26 percent of respondents indicated that they did not think that access to Lithuania should be more difficult for Belarusians. The remaining 14 percent did not answer or did not have an opinion.
The poll was conducted by the public opinion research company Baltijos Tyrimai between September 22 and October 7. It surveyed 1,023 Lithuanian citizens, with a margin of error of 3.1 points.
The Lithuanian parliament, Seimas, has recently adopted a law making it difficult for Russian and Belarusian nationals to enter the country. Fewer restrictions apply to the latter, however.
Until May next year, Russians and Belarusians are restricted from obtaining Lithuanian visas and electronic resident status, but Russian citizens have additional difficulties in entering Lithuania, acquiring real estate, and their applications for residence permits in Lithuania are not being accepted for the time being.
President Gitanas Nausėda has insisted that Belarusian citizens should be subject to the same sanctions as Russians, but his veto was overridden in the Seimas.
The restrictions were introduced in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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