Diplomatic scandal: Lithuanian Sejmas deputy banned entry to Belarus

Belarusian authorities denied visa to Lithuanian parliamentarian Emanuelis Zingeris.

The parliamentarian was on his way to the European Forum held last Saturday. Emanuelis Zingeris was to read the welcoming speech on behalf of the chair of the Parliament of Lithuania Irena Degutiene.

“I was deprived a possibility to congratulate the Belarusian democrats on behalf of the entire Parliament. It is undoubtedly a political act,” Zingeris stated in an interview to BNS.

The Foreign Ministry of Lithuania stated that this step by Minsk “contradicts the friendly spirit of the relations of the closes neighbors” and summoned the Belarusian Ambassador to Lithuanian Uladzimir Drazhyn.

During a conversation the deputy Foreign Minister of Lithuania Evaldas Ignatavičius stated that visa denial does contradicts the practice of good neighbourly relations and expressed a hope for a better future. Comments by Drazhyn which elucidate the position of the Belarusian authorities are not quoted.