Lithuania’s Interior Minister, Vladislavas Kondratovičius, has prohibited the Russian rapper Gio Pika, whose real name is Georgy Dzhioev, from entering the country until February 19, 2031.
A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, Mindaugas Bajarūnas, told BNS that the Migration Department has been instructed to add Dzhioev to the public list of foreigners barred from entering Lithuania.
The decision follows a recommendation from Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys and information provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is based on a provision of the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens, which allows a ban of up to five years if there is serious reason to believe that a foreign national actively supports or participates in activities that violate international law and norms.
According to the Migration Department, the rapper will be added to the public blacklist on Friday.
The question of whether Gio Pika should be allowed entry was first raised in early February by Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas. The rapper had been scheduled to perform in the city on March 21.
The mayor criticised the fact that, despite multiple performances in Russia since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, the artist was still able to perform in Lithuania.
Following this, Minister Budrys requested that the Interior Ministry bar the rapper from the country.
Organisers had promoted Gio Pika as an artist from Georgia, performing across Europe, Asia and the US. In publicity materials, they highlighted his outspoken criticism of the Russian government, its policies, and the president, as well as the anti-war themes in his music.
“The artist has repeatedly spoken out publicly at concerts and in his work, clearly expressing dissatisfaction with the current leadership of the Russian Federation, its policies and the president's actions. His music emphasizes the theme of war, its consequences and a clear anti-war stance,” the description says.
According to the organizers, Gio Pika was born in Georgia, in the Ossetia region, “which was occupied during the war, meaning the performer cannot be associated with Russia's political, cultural or ideological space.”
Official biographies indicate that Gio Pika was born in Tbilisi, is ethnically Ossetian, and has lived in Moscow and the Komi Republic in Russia. Abroad, he is often presented as a Russian artist, performing songs with themes about crime.
Last November, Lithuania also added Russian rapper Alisher Morgenshtern to the blacklist. He challenged the ban in court, but his complaint was rejected.
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