Lithuania postpones bill on restricting rights of Belarusians and Russians

The Lithuanian Seimas has indefinitely postponed consideration of the draft law on restricting the rights of Belarusians and Russians. The bill was to be considered in the second reading on March 30, but now it has been removed from the agenda of the session.

The bill was passed in the first reading a week ago. It significantly restricts the rights of Belarusian and Russian citizens in Lithuania. In particular, Belarusians and Russians will not be able to obtain residence permits and Lithuanian citizenship. The acceptance of applications for obtaining visas abroad will also be suspended unless the Ministry of Foreign Affairs acts as an intermediary.

After the bill was adopted in the first reading, a group of Lithuanian deputies proposed to remove the mention of Belarusians from the bill.