Baltic States – CIS, Belarus, Education and Science, Legislation, Lithuania

In her words, the Interior Ministry has issued permits to 78 Belarusian to come to Lithuanian on humanitarian grounds and has registered 14 asylum seekers. The Lithuanian government also introduced exceptions to the general coronavirus-management rules for Belarusians several weeks ago.

"Some 30 people have come. As we issue permits faster than people expect, part of them have not come yet," the minister told journalists today.

In her words, representatives of the Interior, Foreign and Economy and Innovation Ministries also agreed on Thursday to facilitate the issuance of visas to Belarusian citizens.

"We agreed that national visas would be issued for six months under a facilitated procedure at the embassy or the consular establishment in Grodno. Also, highly-qualified Belarusian citizens will be able to register with the Interior Ministry's system Migris remotely and apply for a permit. They will not need to come physically and their request will be processed remotely," the minister said.

Lithuania is also considering establishing a special call center for Belarusian to provide all necessary information.

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 plan calls for establishing scholarships for Belarusian students, inviting IT firms and professionals to Lithuania, and facilitating the issuance of national visas to Belarusian citizens.

The Cabinet gave each minister a week to look at how their ministries could contribute financially to various measures as part of the plan.

It is also proposed to allocate money from the Education Ministry's funds to offer 100 state scholarships for Belarusian students for studies in Lithuanian higher education institutions.

Separate funding will be provided to the European Humanities University (EHU), a Belarusian university in exile in Vilnius, by the end of this year.