The Lithuanian parliament Seimas on Tuesday rejected proposals to restrict the travel of Russian and Belarusian citizens to their homeland.
Four conservative MPs proposed to add a provision to the law on national sanctions that temporary residence permits issued to Russian and Belarusian citizens would be revoked if they travel to Russia or Belarus more than once in 12 months.
Twenty MPs voted in favour of the proposals, while 47 voted against, and 45 abstained.
The vote on one trip home per three months was 41 in favour, 37 against, and 39 abstentions.
Audronius Ažubalis, one of the co-authors, said the measure would reduce the flow of people travelling between Lithuania and the two countries, something that intelligence officers claim raises the risks of them being recruited by foreign security agencies.
“The proposed solution is not adequate, it covers only a very narrow range of travellers, and it is not clear why only Belarusians should be banned from returning to Belarus. Why can Lithuanians go to Belarus and not be restricted in any way? They can also be recruited [by Belarusian services], regardless of their nationality,” argued Freedom Party’s MP Kasparas Adomaitis.
“We have voted to allow Belarusians who have a residence permit in Lithuania to see their relatives or occasionally go to Belarus. We did not take the decision to declare all Belarusians a threat,” said MP Tomas Tomilinas of the Union of Democrats “For Lithuania.
According to Ažubalis, temporary residence permit holders crossed the Lithuanian-Belarusian or Russian border 28,000 times last December. In January-March, the total number stood at 422,000.
Further reading
More restrictions
Although the proposal on travel restrictions was not approved, a bill extending other national sanctions against Russian and Belarusian citizens for another year passed the second reading in the parliament on Tuesday.
It will still have to pass a third and final vote to be adopted.
The current law on national sanctions, which was passed last year, imposed restrictions on Russians and Belarusians to obtain Lithuanian visas and e-resident status. Russian citizens also face additional restrictions on entry to Lithuania and acquisition of real estate in the country. Lithuania also temporarily refuses to accept their residence permit applications.
The new version of the law proposes more restrictions for Belarusians, as Lithuanian intelligence agencies have warned of increased activity by Belarus’ special services exploiting their citizens who are in Lithuania.
The bill calls for conducting additional risk assessments for Belarusian citizens arriving with Schengen visas, considering the potential threat to public order, internal security, public health, or international relations.
The parliament also supported an amendment to revoke temporary residence permits for Russian and Belarusian nationals who intentionally, publicly, and systematically spread false information or publicly support acts of aggression.
The new bill also calls for prohibiting both Russian and Belarusian citizens without temporary or permanent residence permits in Lithuania from buying real estate in the country.
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who lives in Vilnius, opposes the new restrictions. She believes they unfairly link ordinary Belarusian citizens with Alexander Lukashenko’s regime and are therefore unjustified.
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