Russians and Belarusians dominate list of people barred from entering Lithuania

The list of foreigners barred from entering Lithuania was extended last year, and the majority on the list were citizens of Russia and Belarus, shows data published by the Ministry of Interior Affairs.

Pasų kontrolė Pasų kontrolė © A.Didžgalvio nuotr. The number of such foreigners went up by 17 percent – from 2,865 in 2013 to 3,448 last year. According to the data submitted by the ministry to the government, the number of foreigners considered a threat to public peace, home security or international security of European Union (EU) countries has more than doubled over the period – from under 300 in 2013 to over 600 in 2014. An increase has also been reported in the number of barred persons who did not have proper documents to prove the goal and conditions of their presence. The number of such persons was 750 last year. Other reasons behind banned entry included insufficient livelihood while in Lithuania, overstayed visas, absence of visa, etc. According to the data, the number of barred Russian citizens last year went up by 35 percent year-on-year (from 1,198 in 2013 to 1,618 in 2014).

The second country in terms of banned citizens is Belarus – up by nearly 5 percent to 1,341 last year. The number of Georgian citizens refused entry in Lithuania grew by 32 percent to 144 persons in 2014. Other persons who were not allowed to enter the Baltic state last year were citizens of Ukraine (70), Armenia (50), Kazakhstan (39), Moldova (20) and Tajikistan (17).