About 800 Belarusians denied entry to Lithuania in H1 2023

July 7, BPN. Lithuania issued some 60,000 residence permits and visas to Belarusian nationals after the start of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine, migration department’s head Evelina Gudzinskaitė told Delfi.

However, it does not mean that the holders are still in Lithuania, she added.

After February 2022, the number of Belarusians residing in Lithuania grew by 22,600 to 55,300; Russians, by 3,100 to 20,300, the recent official data shows.

In the first half of 2023, Lithuania denied entry to 800 Belarusians and about 150 Russians at the borders over national security concerns, Gudzinskaitė noted.

Belarusians continue to emigrate albeit on a lesser scale compared with 2020-2022, according to the recent report by Anastasija Łuzhina of the BEROC think tank. Ongoing migration has caused a shortage of human capital which will negatively affect the Belarusian economy, she noted.