{"id":521254,"date":"2026-02-27T10:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T07:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reform.news\/?p=521254"},"modified":"2026-02-27T12:04:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T09:04:49","slug":"lithuanian-culture-minister-backs-proposal-to-restrict-performers-active-in-russia-and-belarus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/lithuanian-culture-minister-backs-proposal-to-restrict-performers-active-in-russia-and-belarus","title":{"rendered":"Lithuanian Culture Minister Backs Proposal to Restrict Performers Active in Russia and Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p>Lithuanian Culture Minister <b>Vaida Aleknavi\u010dien\u0117<\/b> expressed support for a proposal by the Mayor of Vilnius to introduce legislative restrictions on performances in the country by artists who continue their activities in Russia and Belarus. Possible amendments to legal acts are to be discussed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs later this week, LRT reported, citing BNS.<\/p>\n<p><i>\u201cA meeting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is scheduled for this Friday to discuss this issue, explore possibilities and perhaps talk about certain legislative initiatives and restrictions so that this is legally formalised,\u201d<\/i> she said.<\/p>\n<p>The minister noted that similar situations recur year after year and create <i>\u201cquite a few problems,\u201d<\/i> adding that recommendations alone are insufficient.<\/p>\n<p><i>\u201cWe probably need to take this more seriously and consider enshrining this issue in law,\u201d<\/i> Aleknavi\u010dien\u0117 added.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, Vilnius Mayor <b>Valdas Benkunskas<\/b> appealed to the Seimas Committee on National Security and Defence with a proposal to provide in law for a ban on performances in Lithuania by artists engaged in activities in Russia and Belarus.<\/p>\n<p>The head of the Lithuanian capital proposes amending the Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners by adding a provision under which grounds for refusing entry could include carrying out public cultural, entertainment, commercial or other activities in Russia and Belarus after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>According to the mayor, event organisers are primarily interested in profit; therefore, national-level legal measures are needed to curb the spread of the \u201csoft power\u201d of hostile states in Lithuania.<\/p>\n<p>Prime Minister <b>Inga Ruginien\u0117<\/b> reacted to the initiative. She suggested that Benkunskas move from words to action and prepare the relevant draft legislation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lithuanian Culture Minister Vaida Aleknavi\u010dien\u0117 expressed support for a proposal by the Mayor of Vilnius to introduce legislative restrictions on performances in the country by artists who continue their activities in Russia and Belarus. Possible amendments to legal acts are to be discussed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs later this week, LRT reported, citing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":521253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sharing_image":{"poster":"https:\/\/reform.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/69a15e3646ea9.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"template":"691142dd","mode":"auto"},"_sharing_image_fieldset":{"dTVKfmI95PYT":"Lithuanian Culture Minister Backs Proposal to Restrict Performers Active in Russia and Belarus"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[142375,142338],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-521254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-news"],"wps_subtitle":"","permalink_manager":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}