The Lithuanian Parliament, popularly known as Seimas, on Thursday passed a law to apply different sanctions against citizens of Russia and Belarus in the framework of the war in Ukraine, thus circumventing the veto pushed by the Lithuanian president, Gitanas Nauseda, a supporter of a single legislation.
A total of 99 deputies voted in favor of passing the law without the amendment proposed by the Lithuanian president, while there were seven votes against and two abstentions, as reported by the BNS news agency.
According to the finally approved law, from May 2 of this year until May 3 of next year, both Russian and Belarusian citizens will not be able to obtain Lithuanian visas or resident status, nor will they be able to buy real estate or import Ukrainian currency, the Ukrainian hryvnas.
Nauseda vetoed the regulation on Friday, arguing that while he supports the imposition of restrictions against citizens of Russia and Belarus, he saw no need to introduce different legislation for citizens of these two states. In this regard, the president was in favor of implementing a single legislation in this regard.
Nauseda’s proposal sought to prevent applications for temporary residence permits submitted by Russian and Belarusian citizens from being accepted for one year unless authorized by the relevant government agencies.
Following the Lithuanian president’s suggestions, it would be citizens of both countries–who lack residence permits in Lithuania–who would not be able to acquire real estate in the territory for at least one year.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
