Belarusians fleeing the Lukashenko regime can only enter Lithuania illegally as they no longer have access to humanitarian Lithuanian visas, representatives of the Belarusian opposition say.
“After Lukashenko hijacked the Ryanair plane, it’s practically impossible to get an EU visa while being in Belarus,” Olga Karach, a Belarusian opposition representative and a member of the human rights organisation Our House, told a press conference in Vilnius on Tuesday.
In her words, almost all EU countries have reduced their representation in Minsk to a minimum following the forced landing of the Ryanair passenger plane that was en route from Athens to Vilnius in May 2020.
“Lithuania does not issue any visas at all,” she said. “Belarusians have to flee illegally across the border.”
The fall conscription of young men is starting in Belarus, Karach said, adding that young Belarusians might end up in prison if they refuse to serve in the army, but it is difficult to escape the country.
“Today, for example, to get a Polish humanitarian visa, you have to pay speculators 500 US dollars or more just to register for an appointment. In some cases, the amount is as high as 1,500 US dollars,” Karach said.
According to her, such a situation is also weakening resistance to the Lukashenko regime in the country.
“Underground activities in Belarus could be more active, but people realise that if they faced detention, they would simply not be able to get visas and leave,” Karach said.
Increasing flows
The visa issuance in offices in Belarus and Russia has been tightened significantly since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and the introduction of the state of emergency in Lithuania, the Interior Ministry confirmed to BNS.
“[Visas] are issued only in exceptional cases and only with the mediation of the Foreign Ministry,” it said.
According to the ministry, Belarusian citizens are not subject to any restrictions on the territory of Lithuania and can apply to the Migration Department for both national visas and residence permits.
Belarusian citizens have recently been entering Lithuania through border checkpoints in large numbers, the ministry said. For example, in July, more than 84,000 Belarusians arrived in Lithuania via land border checkpoints.
“At the moment, we are also seeing more attempts by Belarusian citizens to cross the border illegally and apply for asylum in Lithuania. Avoidance of border checkpoints may be linked to the persecution of Belarusian citizens by the Belarusian regime,” the Interior Ministry said.
The Migration Department is currently examining 290 asylum applications from Belarusian nationals, and 105 have already been granted asylum this year.
The number of Belarusian citizens living in Lithuania is also steadily increasing, with 17,769 at the beginning of 2020, 23,440 at the beginning of 2021, and 31,028 at the beginning of this year.
Opposition's disappointment
Veronika Tsepkalo, a Belarusian opposition activist, also said she was disappointed with the work of the former opposition frontrunner Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s office in Vilnius,
“We were surprised that despite the fact that Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s office has been operating in Lithuania for two years, Lithuania has not recognised Lukashenko as a terrorist,” Tsepkalo told the press conference.
“The Forum of Democratic Forces of Belarus has sent a letter to put this issue on the parliament’s agenda and to discuss it. We believe that by putting pressure on Lukashenko from all sides, we will achieve certain results,” she added.
According to Tsepkalo, the opposition’s actions are not coordinated, and there’s a lack of transparency in their financial activities.
Tsepkalo also asked Lithuania to open a criminal case against Lukashenko and to take up the initiative to bring him before an international court for crimes against humanity.
The Belarusian opposition conference in Vilnius marks the two-year anniversary of the August 9, 2020, presidential election in Belarus, which saw unprecedented mass protests in the country for more than six months.
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