Lithuania’s MPs pass law on restrictions to Russians, Belarusians

April 4, BPN. The Lithuanian Seimas has approved the law on restrictions to Russian and Belarusian nationals over Russia’s war in Ukraine, BNS reports.

The law reaffirmed the existing restrictions for Belarusians without expanding them. It allows Lithuania to stop accepting Schengen visa applications from Russian and Belarusian nationals, except in cases when authorized by the Lithuanian foreign ministry.

Russians are temporarily banned from applying for a temporary residence permit and purchasing real estate in Lithuania but Belarusians and Belarusian-owned companies are exempt to these provisions. 

The law, supported by 76 MPs, may come into force on May 3. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda may veto it because it exempts Belarusians from some restrictions, Kęstutis Budrys, Lithuanian president’s chief adviser on national security, said earlier.

Lithuania advocates sanctions both against Russia and Belarus in the European Union and internationally and cannot make any distinctions on the national level, as it would send a wrong message, Budrys noted. 

On March 21, Lithuanian MPs approved the first reading of a bill that would make Russians and Belarusians ineligible to apply for Lithuanian citizenship over the war in Ukraine. The bill caused an outcry both in the Belarusian diaspora and Lithuanian agencies.

On March 29, the Seimas’ national security committee approved some amendments to the bill adding exceptions to the proposed ban on citizenship applications from Russians and Belarusians.