Belarus

Over 50 people from Belarus have arrived in Lithuania in the wake of the neighboring country's presidential election, fearing persecution and danger at home.

EU member states' different positions on Belarus undermine the country's chances of becoming democratic and do not contribute to regional stability, Ramunas Karbauskis, leader of the ruling Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, said in a Facebook post.

The majority of Lithuanian political experts believe the ongoing protests in Belarus will gradually die down or will be suppressed and Alexander Lukashenko will stay in power, according to the results of a survey presented by the Easter Europe Studies Center on Friday.

Lithuania has issued permits to come to the country to almost 80 Belarusian fleeing Minsk's repression s and is also considering other various facilitations for Belarusian citizens, Interior Minister Rita Tamasuniene says.

A dead-end is still seen in Belarus and the regime is trying to win time and slow democratic processes, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius says.

The Lithuanian government on Wednesday formally approved a plan to support victims of repression by the Minsk regime and other Belarusian people, with its details yet to be finalized.

The Board of the Lithuanian Seimas has on Wednesday established a delegation of Lithuanian lawmakers who will take care of Belarusian affairs in Lithuania and, if possible, will travel to Minsk.

Statements by Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia "matter less and less" to Belarus, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry's spokesman said on Monday after the three Baltic states imposed entry bans on President Alexander Lukashenko and 29 other high-ranking officials.

Lithuanian Interior Minister Rita Tamasuniene signed on Monday a decree to blacklist President Alexander Lukashenko and 29 other Belarusian officials for their roles in vote-rigging and violence against protesters.

The list of countries most affected by the coronavirus infection (COVID-19) was updated on Friday, 28 August, to take effect as of 31 August. Belarus, Italy, Slovenia and Slovakia have been added to the list of affected countries, as coronavirus incidence rate there exceeds 16 cases per 100 000 popu...

Last Sunday's human chain formed in Lithuania to express solidarity with Belarus was Andrius Tapinas' public relations stunt that failed, Valdemar Tomasevski, the leader of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania–Christian Families Alliance (EAPL-CFA), said on Thursday.

Two Belarusian sound engineers have fled to Lithuania in fear of repression by the authorities for playing Viktor Tsoi's Peremen (Change), the Soviet perestroika-era song adopted as an anthem by Belarusian protesters, at a pro-government event in Minsk.

Lithuania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is proposing sanctions for over 100 Belarusian officials responsible for vote-rigging and violence against peaceful protesters.

Some 11 Belarusian citizens have asked for asylum in Lithuania recently.

Twenty Belarusians have arrived in Lithuania under a humanitarian exception to the coronavirus travel ban, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.

Protesters demanding a free election in Belarus are no longer the opposition, they are the majority, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the former Belarusian opposition presidential candidates, says, adding that there's an ongoing peaceful democratic revolution in Belarus.

While the situation in Belarus with protests intensifies more and more Lithuanians share their support for Belarusians that are fighting for their freedom. Citizens are not the only ones that support people of neighbours. Lithuanian businesses join also.

Lithuania has on Monday handed in a diplomatic note to Belarus over an alleged violation of Lithuania's airspace during the formation of a human chain, the Freedom Way, in Lithuania on Sunday.

The world can no longer play the double game with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's regime and it needs to be politically and diplomatically isolated, ex-Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite says.

A human chain called "The Freedom Way" was formed in Lithuania from Vilnius to Medininkai on Sunday in solidarity with Belarus' civil society fighting for democratic changes in the country.