Lithuania wants Russian performers appearing in the country to sign an anti-war declaration. If they refuse — they won’t be allowed in.

Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry is proposing to tighten the country’s law on national sanctions, requiring Russian and Belarusian cultural figures who travel there for public performances to sign an anti-war declaration.The ministry told the BNS news agency that recent discussions “showed the need for more precise regulation” of how Russians and Belarusians who support the aggression take part in public events in education, science and training, culture, sports, art, and entertainment, and that it wants to give institutions a “clear legal framework.”Under the proposed amendments, Lithuania would deny entry to anyone who has carried out public activity in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, or who has directly or indirectly supported or taken part in the war.The amendments would also bar entry to those who pursue policies that undermine Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence, as well as those who support gross human rights violations or the repression of civil society and democratic forces in Russia and Belarus.The Foreign Ministry wants cultural figures traveling to Lithuania to sign a declaration condemning Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and expressing support for the U.N. Charter and for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.The declaration would be published openly, and refusing to sign it would bar entry into the country.The Foreign Ministry is also proposing to bar Russians and Belarusians holding Lithuanian residence permits from buying property near sites of national security importance or near military training grounds.The ministry wants the amendments to take effect January 1, 2027.In November 2025, Lithuania banned rapper Alisher Morgenshtern from entering the country for 10 years. The decision was made after the country’s Foreign Ministry submitted a ‘written proposal’ and additional information was gathered indicating that Morgenshtern ‘may pose a threat to national security.’In March 2026, concerts by German musician Dieter Bohlen, a former member of the duo Modern Talking, were canceled in the Lithuanian cities of Klaipeda and Kaunas. The reason for the cancellation was not disclosed. LRT suggested it may have been related to an interview in which Dieter Bohlen said that Russia and Germany were “actually a dream team” because they “had cheap energy.”At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.