Linas Jegelevičius
After heated discussions and trading acerbic barbs, the Lithuanian parliamentarians adopted a special law on national sanctions for Russian and Belarusian citizens in response to the war in Ukraine.
“The law will continue hammering splinters in our society, sorting out the people. By now, we have 10 laws and sub-laws aiming at the same. Instead of adding all of them into one single law, we churned out another one,” Dainius Kepenis, an opposition MP, told BNN.
The bill was drafted by Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė and chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Security and Defence Laurynas Kasčiūnas.
The new law envisions temporary restrictions for Russians and Belarusians to receive Lithuanian visas, bring hryvnias, the Ukrainian currency, and acquire real estate in Lithuania.
The initial draft foresaw the proposal not to accept Russian and Belarusian applications for Lithuanian citizenship, but it was scrapped during the deliberations on the parliamentary floor.
Under the law, Russian nationals will only be able to apply for Lithuanian citizenship through naturalization,
after spending 10 years in the country. Exceptions will also apply to people who were deported by the Soviets, as well as to their children.
Moreover, Lithuania will not accept applications for temporary residence permits from Russian citizens until mid-April 2024, except in cases mediated by an institution authorized by the Lithuanian government, or for holders of Schengen visas, national visas, or holders of the residence permits of an EU country.
However, the restriction in some cases will not apply to Belarusian citizens after opposition MPs argued vehemently that this would cause difficulties for Lithuanian haulers hiring Belarusian drivers.
Under the new law, Russian citizens and firms set up or controlled by them will be outlawed to buy real estate in Lithuania, unless they have a residence permit or have inherited the property. The ban on purchasing property would apply to Russians for one year.
Before the vote, Social Democrat MP Algirdas Sysas stated that this law was “intended to do better, but it came out as usual. And in this case, I would add, it’s very bad.”
“There are many laws to address what we are addressing now. We just need to use them…Is our border open today? No. Can anyone come here and get citizenship? No. Can anyone buy real estate in our country? Again no. It’s not like that. There are all procedures, there are regulations. But maybe the election campaign is already starting and everyone – and mostly the Conservatives – are getting excited, demonstrating how our enemies are attacking us,” the MP said during the debate.
According to him, this draft law
“will leave bitterness for many years for those citizens who have lived in Lithuania for many years.”
“They will feel like second-class citizens – be it Russian or Belarusian citizens who have been living here for many years… It was necessary to first measure ten times and cut once. Unfortunately, we cut first and then made a bunch of corrections,” the MP noted.
Additionally, the new law also provides for individual checks of Russian citizens crossing the EU’s external border. Each traveler will be screened for potential “threats to national security.” This ban will not apply to Belarusians.
Valius Ązuolas, an opposition lawmaker from the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, cautioned that the Lithuanian legislature, Seimas, is dividing and sorting people according to their citizenship and nationality.
“If this continues, maybe there will be an even bigger list, those who agree with a certain party’s promulgated truth and those who don’t. They will also need to be sorted out,” the MP warned.
The most acrimonious remarks about the law came from Social Democrat Julius Sabatauskas, who called the bill discriminatory.
“Segregation of people and discrimination based on nationality is being established,” he emphasized, urging to draw a line between Russian President Vladimir Putin and ordinary Russians.
Upon hearing the accusation, Kasčiūnas sprang from his seat in fury.
“Dear Julius, an intelligent woman, Dovilė Šakalienė (also a Social Democratic MP – L.J.), is standing next to you. I am exhorting you to ask her to submit you sociological surveys showing how many of the Russians would support the war against Lithuania…Maybe you will understand then what we are dealing with,” the chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Security and Defence fumed.
Šakalienė reprimanded Kasčiūnas for bringing up her name in the discussion, however, she said, citing a survey, that
only 17 percent of Russian citizens would not approve of the so-called special military operation against Lithuania, and 34 percent are in favour of it.
The Seimas was particularly divided over the different treatment of Belarusians.
The initial proposal of Kasčiūnas and Bilotaitė stipulated temporary denial of Lithuanian citizenship to both Russians and Belarusians, but this proposal was abandoned after the majority of the parliamentarians bristled against it.
The separation angered many MPs, including liberal MP Eugenijus Gentvilas, who emphasised that Belarus is participating in the war started by Russia against Ukraine.
“Therefore, the citizens of this country should not be exempted. In my opinion, under Lukashenko’s regime, Belarus provides its territory for hostilities against Ukraine and Ukraine suffers precisely because of that role of Belarus,” he said.
The Office of the Lithuanian President has also said it was not happy with the law.
Prior to the deliberations on the parliamentary floor, an adviser to President Gitanas Nausėda said that the president could veto the law if Russian and Belarusian citizens are treated differently.
According to Kęstutis Budrys, the advisor, Lithuania’s official position is that both Russia and Belarus are responsible for the war in Ukraine and that their citizens should be subject to equal sanctions.
“Lithuania is one of the loud voices saying that Belarus should go along with Russia when it comes to sanctions. This is the position we take at the international level, in the European Union, when it comes to sanctions. And we are convincing our partners that this is necessary,” Budrys told LRT TV program The Week (Savaitė) last Sunday.
According to the president’s adviser, there must remain a humanitarian route for members of the opposition from Russia and Belarus to enter Lithuania. He also believes that sanctions should not affect the rights of Russian and Belarusian citizens “in any form whatsoever” who are already here in Lithuania, especially when it comes to humanitarian arrivals.
The law was adopted with 76 votes in favour, 13 against, and 34 abstentions.
The law is set to enter into force on the 3rd of May and expires on the 2nd of May, 2024.