Lithuania proposes to ask Russians at the border a question about Crimea

The head of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gabrielius Landsbergis, proposed to allow Russians to pass through the border only after receiving an answer to the question about the status of the Crimean peninsula, informs LRT.

According to him, it is also necessary to ask Russian citizens how they feel about the special operation.

“And only by answering this question, if a person crossing the border with Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Poland believes that Crimea is not occupied, we can conclude that the entry of such a person does not correspond to the national security interests of Lithuania”Landsbergis said.

Earlier, Landsbergis offered the EU countries to close their borders to Russians. In his opinion, the restriction of entry is an effective sanctions measure.

Reunification of Crimea with Russia

Recall that following the results of the referendum held in 2014 after the coup d’état in Ukraine, 96.77 percent of voters in Crimea voted for joining the region to Russia.

The Ukrainian authorities still consider the peninsula to be their own, but temporarily occupied territory. In this they are supported by many Western countries.

The Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that the inhabitants of Crimea democratically, in full accordance with international law and the UN Charter, voted for reunification with the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that the issue of the Crimea “finally closed.”