The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry has proposed extending the existing restrictions on Russian and Belarusian citizens, in place until May, for another year.
Based on the proposal, the restrictions on Belarusian nationals would also be tightened but not put completely on par with those on Russian nationals.
In cases where Belarusian nationals come to Lithuania on a Schengen visa, an additional risk assessment would be carried out to examine the threat their arrival poses to public order, internal security, public health, or international relations.
Border guards would also decide on the further screening of the Belarusian nationals at the checkpoints’ second line of control. The Russian nationals are already subject to this additional in-depth risk screening.
Visa issuance for both Russians and Belarusians is already restricted. Some exceptions are made for family members of Lithuanian or other EU citizens, members of crews transporting international cargo and passengers, as well as people coming on humanitarian grounds and their family members.
Last year, the Lithuanian parliament adopted a law on restrictive measures for Russian and Belarusian nationals, but the latter are now subject to fewer restrictions. The existing restrictions are in force until May 2. The Foreign Ministry suggests extending these restrictions until May 2, 2025.
“The war launched by Russia against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, is still ongoing, and the reasons for which the law was adopted have not disappeared,” the ministry states.
It points out that the ministry is proposing certain restrictive measures on Belarusian nationals in view of the information provided by the Lithuanian special services on the increased activities of the Belarusian special services in using their nationals in Lithuania as a cover for their activities.
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