Lithuania declares more than 1,000 Belarusians and Russians to be national security risks
abcnews.go.com
Lithuania has declared more than a thousand citizens of Russia and Belarus living in the country to be threats to national security and said it is stripping them of their permanent residency permits

Lithuania has declared more than a thousand citizens of Russia and Belarus living in the country to be threats to national security and said it is stripping them of their permanent residency permits

  • LordOfTheChia@lemmy.worldEnglish
    52·
    1 year ago

    To put it in perspective:

    • These are citizens of a foreign countries that are living in Lithuania thanks to permits
    • 910 out of 58,000 Belarusian Citizens are being asked to leave (via revocation of their permits)
    • 254 out of 16,000 Russian Citizens were also asked to leave
    • This does not affect the vast majority (~98%) of Russian and Belarusian Citizens living in Lithuania
    • The 2% of Belarusian and Russian Citizens that were asked to leave were deemed to be national security threats (think maintaining contact with the Russian military, spreading Russian propaganda, generally overtly siding with a power that is acting as a threat to the country they are guests of).
    • These folks never became citizens of Lithuania
    • This does not affect Lithuanian citizens of Russian or Belarusian descent
    • They can appeal the decision in court or leave in 30 days

    The Migration Department said Friday that it had established that 1,164 Belarusian and Russian citizens residing in Lithuania posed a threat to national security, a decision that was based on an evaluation of public and non-public information. It said 910 of those were Belarusian citizens and 254 Russian citizens.

    …

    Those deemed to be national security threats are only a fraction of the Belarusians and Russians living in Lithuania. According to the Migration Department, more than 58,000 Belarusian citizens and 16,000 Russian citizens are currently residing in Lithuania. They are required to renew their residence permits every year to three years, depending on the application status.

    Those stripped of permits can appeal the decision in court. Others will have up to a month to leave the country, according to the Migration Department.

    …

    Viktor Voroncov, a businessman who moved from Russia several years ago, learned Lithuanian and obtained citizenship, said he agreed with the move.

    "I know many Russians who served in the Soviet and later in Putin’s army. They are married to Lithuanian wives, they live here, maintain close contacts with comrades in arms back in Russia and are spreading Kremlin propaganda constantly,” Voroncov said.