Last year, 598 Belarusian and 125 Russian citizens were recognised as a threat to Lithuania’s state security, public order, or human health, the Migration Department reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, the foreigners were recognised as posing a threat based on an assessment of public and non-public information collected and data received from the State Security Department.
All these foreigners are banned from entering Lithuania.
According to the Migration Department, these figures are lower than last year when a total of 1,428 Belarusians and 352 Russians were recognised as a threat.
Of the 598 Belarusian citizens, 179 were denied a temporary residence permit in Lithuania and 232 were not issued a new document when their permit expired.
Moreover, temporary residence permits of 175 Belarusian citizens were revoked on the initiative of the Migration Department. Another three Belarusians were refused permanent residence permits in Lithuania and nine had their documents revoked.
Last year, 35 Russians were also refused temporary residence permits in Lithuania and permits were not renewed in 36 cases. A further 24 Russian citizens had their valid temporary residence permits revoked and 29 Russians had their permanent residence permits revoked.
Also, 16 Russian citizens were denied permanent residence permits when applying for the first time.
All Russian and Belarusian citizens aged 18 and over must fill in a special questionnaire, introduced at the end of 2022, when they apply for or change their residence permits in Lithuania.
The questionnaire asks about their education, previous jobs, service in the armed forces, contacts with public authorities in NATO and non-EU countries, and attitudes towards Russian aggression in Ukraine.
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