Citizens of Belarus are denied entry to Lithuania after questions about Crimea and the war
Citizens of Belarus were denied entry to Lithuania based on the results of a survey on their attitude to the war in Ukraine.
This was announced by the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Lithuania Arnoldas Abramavičius on LRT.
According to him, there were cases when citizens of Belarus were refused entry to Lithuania because of their answers to the questions of the questionnaire, which is suggested to be filled out at the border.
– From this, you can understand whether a person is speaking out against the annexation of Russia, as well as Belarus’ indirect participation in it, or whether he is trying to hide something, deny it and submit possibly embellished information using the questionnaire, – he said.
Abramavičius did not say how many Belarusians were refused entry because of the answers in the questionnaires.
It was previously reported that the questionnaires should have answered a number of questions, in particular, about the purpose of the trip to Lithuania, the attitude to the full-scale war in Ukraine, which was unleashed by Russia, as well as about the annexation of Crimea.
The deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Lithuania noted that at this stage they do not plan to strengthen the conditions for entry, because the questionnaire is working.
He added that most measures have already been taken. In particular, the assessment after arrival in Lithuania has been increased, the number of temporary residence permits has been reduced, additional questionnaires are mandatory when issuing these documents, which assess the potential threat to national security. Abramavičius called all these measures effective.
In August, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Gabrielіus Landsbergis, proposed a survey of Russians who wish to enter the territory of the EU. In particular, the border guards had to ask the citizens of the Russian Federation about the purpose of their trip, the occupation of Crimea and their attitude to the war in Ukraine.
He emphasized that Lithuania can introduce such conditions unilaterally.
Source: LRT