Baltic states rigorously monitor Russians’ legitimacy of stay

Lithuania recognizes over 1000 Russian & Belarus citizens as a threat to national security; meanwhile, Latvia is to send letters to 6000 Russian citizens asking them to leave the country.

Lithuania recognizes more than one thousand citizens of Russia and Belarus as a threat to national security, European Pravda reports, citing local media.

The agency found that 910 Belarusian citizens and 254 Russian citizens pose a threat to national security.

The Lithuanian government usually revokes Russian and Belarusian citizens’ previously valid temporary residence permits, refuses them to issue permanent residence permits, and refuses to issue Lithuanian national visas.

It is also mentioned that applying for such documents, all adult Belarusian and Russian citizens are required to fill out a questionnaire, which requires expressing their attitude towards the Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Previously, Lithuanian Vice Minister of the Interior Arnoldas Abramavicius announced the decision to close two checkpoints on the border with Belarus, adding that they would be named later.

Meanwhile, Latvia will send letters to six thousand Russian citizens asking them to leave the country in September 2023.

According to Ingmārs Lidaka, chairman of the Seimas Commission on Citizenship, Migration, and Social Cohesion Ingmārs Lidaka, it concerns those Russians who have not even tried to pass the test for EU permanent resident status.

“About 5-6 thousand, according to my forecasts. These are people who have not expressed any desire to either take the exam or get a temporary residence permit. That is, those who are silent. If you look at the law now, the PMLP (Department of Citizenship and Migration Affairs) has to send a demand to leave the country within three months,” Lidaka said.

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Latvia decided to ask Russian citizens living in the country to take a mandatory Latvian language test.

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