Baltic: Over 4,000 Russian citizens denied entry since September 2022

Following the introduction of stricter entry procedures for Russian citizens in the Baltic States in September 2022, over 4,000 Russians have been denied entry, Rustamas Liubajevas, commander of Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service (VSAT), announced, LRT reports. He said that Estonia had turned away 1,850, Lithuania 1,278, and Latvia 890 Russian citizens. Liubajevas revealed that around 60,000 Russian citizens and just over 150,000 Belarusian citizens arrived in Lithuania in June 2023 alone. On average, around 1,500 Russians and 4,000 Belarusians enter and leave Lithuania daily, he said. Laurynas Kasciunas, chairman of the national security and defence committee of the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, emphasised that a regional consensus was needed to close the borders for both Russian and Belarusian citizens.