Lithuania’s Interior Ministry has drafted amendments that would allow the government to decide when foreign flags – including Ukraine’s – may be flown at state or municipal institutions, following political debate over their legality.
The ministry is seeking to update the Law on the National Flag and Other Flags, arguing that current rules do not clearly define when foreign flags can be displayed.
The ambiguity, it says, has created legal uncertainty for institutions that raised Ukrainian flags in solidarity after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Under the proposal, the government would set detailed procedures for raising foreign flags on or at public buildings, taking into account Lithuania’s foreign policy, national security interests and diplomatic relations.
The right to fly foreign flags during official visits, commemorative days and international events would remain unchanged.
The bill also aims to clarify rules for flying the EU and NATO flags. Although Lithuania has been a member of both organisations for 21 years, current legislation does not permit their permanent display on state or municipal buildings; the ministry notes that many institutions nevertheless do so.
The debate intensified after MP Ignas Vėgėlė filed three police complaints in October over the permanent display of foreign flags alongside the Lithuanian tricolour at the Museum of Applied Art and Design, the Migration Department, and the Amber Museum in Palanga. Police in Vilnius and Palanga dismissed the cases, finding no administrative offence.
Vėgėlė, meanwhile, claims that this violates the law and should result in administrative liability.
The flag draft amendments are now being coordinated with other institutions.
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