Belarus denies entry to six Lithuanian MPs
Six Deputies from the Lithuanian Seimas that were invited to take part in the discussion "Regional Security and Exercises West 2017" on September 11th in Minsk were refused a Belarusian visa. The Belarusian authorities have not commented on this decision yet.
As the Co-Chairman of the Round Table Committee, the leader of the United Civil Party (UCP), Anatoly Lebedko, told Deutsche Welle that throughout the day on September 8th, the final decision on the Lithuanian deputies was postponed several times. As a result, the Belarusian embassy in Vilnius refused them visas without explaining the reasons.
"Obviously, this is a political decision and a scandal – with not only consequences for Belarusian-Lithuanian relations, but for Europe as well," Lebedko stated.
He sees the incident as "either an attempt to teach Lithuania a lesson as it takes a tough position towards Minsk on many issues, or a desire to demonstrate that the government issues licenses to those they choose to discuss peculiar questions with and the list of participants."
The West 2017 exercises will be held from September 14th to September 20th in Belarus and in the western territories of Russia. The US allies in Eastern Europe and Ukraine fear that these exercises may be a "Trojan horse" that will enable Russia to leave military equipment in those areas.