“I support the decision the Seimas made yesterday, to reject restrictions,” the speaker commented to reporters Wednesday.
“I do not think that a law should regulate how many times it is possible to travel [to Belarus]. This should be done in a different way,” stated Čmilytė-Nielsen.
On Tuesday, parliament approved a bill in the consideration stage proposing to extend national sanctions on Russia and Belarus for one more year and to tighten the screening of Belarusians arriving in Lithuania. However, the idea to limit the number of annual journeys Russian and Belarusian citizens may make to Russia and Belarus was turned down.
As earlier, visa issuance to Russians and Belarusians would be limited, with exceptions on family members of citizens of Lithuania and other EU countries and crews on international transport services. Restrictions do not apply on individuals coming to Lithuania on humanitarian grounds either.
If the law passes the adoption stage, restrictive measures would be extended from 3 May 2024 until 2 May 2025.
Currently, more than 60,000 Belarusian citizens reside in Lithuania. The State Security Department (VSD) has warned that many of them regularly travel to Belarus and are thus targets of Belarusian special services. Moreover, the VSD lacks resources to appropriately screen all of the Belarusians coming to Lithuania.