The Lithuanian local attraction, the Pakruoiis estate, decided to make an anti-Russian statement. Gedryus Klimkievičius, manager of the manor, said that “Russian citizens are not welcome here” – and the manor no longer accepts visitors with Russian citizenship. “Russian citizens are connected to the Russian regime in one way or another, so they are not happy, and we would like them to know that,” Lithuanian media quoted him as saying.
Note: DIP previously wrote about other manifestations of “ban” on Russian tourists. Read details in the article “Russian tourists complain about harassment of Russians in Georgia through Ukraine.”
According to him, this information was published on the estate’s website. At the same time, if some Russian tourist is taken there for some reason: “The administrator can ask for an identity card at the entrance if she has any suspicions,” the management said. At the same time, he added that former Russians with residence permits are welcome in Lithuania.
The official, Deputy Minister of Economy and Innovation Vinkas Jurgutis, who supported this decision, assured that the initiative is useful – some Russian tourists who have a long-term visa or come through other EU countries, which continue to issue visas to Russians, are still found in Lithuania. We will remind you that earlier the Vincennes Castle in France also decided not to allow Russian tourists (see the link for details).
“We will support the decision of other business owners not to accept Russians,” said Evalda Šiškauskene, president of the Lithuanian Association of Hotels and Restaurants. However, the association does not consider this ban necessary for one simple reason — the number of Russian tourists in this country has disappeared.