Lithuania recently announced its withdrawal from the 17+1 mechanism between China and Central and Eastern European countries, while fiercely criticizing China over the Xinjiang issue. Lithuania’s move has drawn attacks from Chinese official media and netizens. A new law just implemented in Lithuania threatens to ban those who openly propagate for Beijing from entering the country.
Support for authoritarian regime’s bad deeds should be paid for
A new amended Lithuanian law came into force last week. According to the law, those who openly support, encourage, or directly participate in foreign violations of international laws and norms and aggressive policies will be blacklisted and banned from entering Lithuania for five years.
In a parliamentary vote on May 20, an overwhelming majority of deputies voted in favor of adopting the amendments to the law. One of the drafters of the bill, Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Lithuanian Sejm Pavelionis, said on the same day that Lithuania will not only prohibit the entry of those who have committed money laundering, corruption and serious human rights violations, but will also prohibit the entry of those who propagate international crimes and even legalize and encourage different acts of aggression and occupation.
The law comes at a time when singer Kirkorov, who is well known in the former Soviet Union and Russia, was banned from Lithuania for five years earlier this year. Kirkorov supported Russia’s annexation of Crimea and has made several visits and concerts to the Crimean peninsula.
The Lithuanian culture department had planned to hold concerts with Kirkorov and others, but the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry and Immigration Service put Kirkorov on the entry ban list because of his position in support of the annexation of Crimea. Kirkorov appealed and took the Lithuanian authorities to court. The Lithuanian court is expected to deliver its verdict soon. In this context, Lithuania decided to supplement and clarify the relevant law.
The law will affect Crimea, Xinjiang and other topics
Lithuania announced last month that it was withdrawing from the 17+1 mechanism between China and Central and Eastern European countries, while calling on other countries to follow suit. The Lithuanian parliament also recently voted by a majority to adopt a resolution fiercely criticizing Beijing on the issue of Xinjiang. The pro-official Russian online media Eurasia Daily says that the scope of the law just implemented in Lithuania will continue to extend beyond issues such as Crimea and Ukraine, and those who propagate Beijing’s actions on issues such as Xinjiang and Taiwan and support Beijing-related actions on social media could be covered by the bill.
Lithuanian public television reported this spring that the amendments to the law in question were an extension of the Magnitsky Act. Magnitsky was a Moscow-based lawyer who died in prison in Russia years ago for exposing and investigating corruption. Countries in Europe and the United States have since adopted the Magnitsky Act to punish those who violate human rights. On the eighth anniversary of Magnitsky’s death, Lithuania’s parliament passed a Lithuanian version of the Magnitsky Act in 2017, which bans foreigners who violate human rights, engage in large-scale corruption and commit money laundering crimes from entering the country.
No Tolerance for Human Rights Violations Historical Factors Make Lithuania Stand Out
Lithuanian society had actively supported the popular demonstrations in Hong Kong two years ago. Lithuania is equally supportive of a democratic society in Taiwan, and many Lithuanian officials and parliamentarians have been calling for Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Organization General Assembly in recent years. Lithuania is also particularly sympathetic to the plight of Tibetans in exile. The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan religious leader, has visited Lithuania several times and has met with Lithuanian parliamentarians and state leaders, and has faced reprisals from Beijing as a result.
Russian current affairs commentator Nikolsky said that Chinese official media propaganda now increasingly emphasizes joining forces with Russia against the West and the United States, including Western values. Catholic Lithuania suffered not only from the Soviet occupation and ravages, but also from the brutal religious persecution by the Soviet Communist authorities.
Not only that, Nikolski said, but the Soviet Union also used regular and special forces to suppress the Lithuanian population on the eve of its dissolution. All of this is still unforgettable to Lithuanian society and influences many Lithuanian policies, including diplomacy. This has made Lithuania’s stance on human rights, religion, and against Beijing and Moscow more distinct than other countries in the former Soviet camp.
Although Lithuania was also part of the former Soviet Union, the level of hatred for the Soviet Communist Party and the Communist regime in Lithuania can be said to be unprecedented compared to other former Soviet regions and unmatched by others,” Nikolski said. One reason for this may be that in January 1991 the Soviet Union sent troops into the capital Vilnius to suppress the population there, and Lithuania may be the only former Soviet region that has ever suffered brutal repression by military operations carried out by its own country’s army.”
Nikolsky said he happened to be in the western Russian city of Pskov, not far from Lithuania, when the January ’91 events took place, and that elite Soviet airborne troops stationed locally in Pskov had marched into Vilnius to take part in the repression. Thus the scale of the repression can be seen.
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