Linas Jegelevičius for BNN
Pakruojis Manor, a tourist site in Lithuania’s northeast, has drawn national and international headlines earlier this week for an unexpected announcement – Russian tourists are no longer welcome at the site. And furthermore: Pakruojis Manor stops accepting visitors with Russian citizenship.
«Russian citizens are in one way or another connected to the Russian regime, so they are not welcome and we would like them to know that. We also don’t want their money, which is stained with Ukrainian blood,» Giedrius Klimkevičius, manager of the manor house, was quoted as saying by Lithuanian media.
And if the Manor’s receptionist gets suspicious about a guest’s citizenship, he or she can demand to submit ID.
Meanwhile, Russian nationals with a residence permit in Lithuania are welcome, he adds.The initiative comes amid discussions in the EU on whether to ban Russian tourists from the bloc. Lithuania has already stopped issuing tourist visas to Russian nationals.
According to Vilnius officials, the ban is aiming to make Russian society feel the effects of the country’s war against Ukraine.
Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, the speaker of the Lithuanian parliament, has said this week that an EU-level ban on tourist visas for Russian citizens would be an adequate response to the war in Ukraine.
However, far from all embrace the initiative – some call it unfair or even discriminatory, instigating Russophobia.
«What the manor did is clearly a marketing effort, sort of a publicity stunt. I really doubt if many Russians have ever heard about the place. I doubt if the facility would see many Russian tourists even at much better times,» Kęstutis Girnius, a Lithuanian political analyst of American descent, told BNN.
Girnius collective responsibility of all Russians for the war is «unfair» to Russians opposing it and is just another Lithuania’s attempt to appear as the staunchest ally of the United States.
«Look, if a Russian says loudly that he or she is against the war, the person will risk of being jailed for 15 years. How would you expect the people living under the authoritarian regime to be honest about what they really think about it? It seems to me that by banning Russians from travelling here we are giving a trump card to Putin, who can say: [Look, the West has waged war on all the Russians!]».
Girnius calls collective responsibility a «delicate and tricky» thing.
«If to be fair to the recent history, when it comes to America’s war in Iraq, the ostensible proof of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction that the former (now late US State Secretary provided to the United Nations) turned out to be false. On the same token, Germans may still be culpable for the WWII. I am sure that the big powers, like Germany, France or Italy, will not support the Lithuanian initiative,» the analyst emphasised to BNN.
In his words, they are keen to leave the door ajar, so there is room for peace talks.
«They believe that the war will end at one point or another, so brokers (of peace talks) will be needed sooner or later. They definitely want to see themselves in the position,» Girnius said.
Back in his homeland, several US congressmen have called on Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State to designate the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis on Wednesday, August 17, also called on the European Union to take a unanimous decision on a ban on visas for Russian tourists.
«Ideally, it should be a European-level decision that would simply abolish the validity of these visas, and everyone would stop issuing them,» he told reporters before the cabinet’s meeting.
The minister’s comment came after Estonia decided to deny entry, as of Thursday, August 18, to Russian nationals who hold previously issued Estonian visas.
As reported, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, on Tuesday, August 16, lashed out on Twitter at Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas for the decision of her Cabinet, noting that the freedom of Estonia and the prime minister is not their merit, but Russia’s shortcoming.
However, Landsbergis said he doubted the effectiveness of such measures.
«A Russian citizen today can get a visa at the German consulate in any Russian city where there is a consulate and travel via Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania or Poland to wherever they want to go for a holiday,» he said.
This is why an EU-level decision is needed, according to the Lithuanian foreign minister.
Following the invasion of Ukraine by Kremlin forces, Lithuania was one of the first EU member states to restrict the issuance of new Schengen and national visas to Russian citizens. Latvia and Estonia took similar decisions.
As reported by BNN, having designated Russia a terrorist state in May, Lithuania is now seeking to outlaw any business connection with Russia.
Laurynas Kasčiūnas, chairman of the Seimas Committee on National Security and Defence (NSGK), confirmed to BNN last week that the Committee will deliberate the initiative to ban business relations with Russia.
«We will meet at an NSGK meeting not only on this issue but also on the analysis of Russia’s participation in the Lithuanian market and Russia’s impact on our economy in general, as well as what we can do legislatively to control this impact,» Kasčiūnas said.
Raimundas Lopata, a member of the Liberal Movement group in the Seimas, was among the very first Lithuanian MPs to propose to embed a legal ban on business relations with Russia, following Lithuania’s declaring Russia a terrorist state.
«If we are making a political statement and adopting a resolution (that Russia is a terrorist state), then we must follow through and there are the necessary mechanisms to do so. We cannot allow our businesses, even if they are making money in Russia, to feed a terrorist state,» Lopata has said.
If the law is passed by the Seimas, businesses would be given a three–month period to cease all contacts with Russia.
But opposition MPs believe that business relations with Russia should not be regulated, as it must be the responsibility of the businesses themselves.