MOSCOW, September 11 Lithuania may extend from one year to three “foreigner passports” issued to Belarusian citizens living in the republic have been valid for years if they cannot renew an expired passport on Belarusian territory, said Lithuanian Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Arnoldas Abramavičius.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on September 4 signed a decree “On the procedure for issuing documents and performing actions”, according to which foreign institutions of the republic are no longer authorized to deal with issues of issuing, exchanging, renewing all types of passports and identification cards — from now on these actions can only be carried out on the territory of Belarus.
“The foreigner’s passport has existed for several years, but its validity is limited to one year. Perhaps we could extend this period. We intend to submit this proposal to parliament,” Agence France-Presse quotes Abramavičius as saying.
According to him, the validity of so-called “foreigner passports” — documents issued by the Lithuanian Migration Service to foreigners who cannot obtain a residence permit in the European Union in their country — can be extended to three years.
After the presidential elections in Belarus on August 9, 2020, which were won for the sixth time by Lukashenko, who, according to the Central Election Commission, received 80.1% of the votes, opposition protests took place in the country, and security forces, among other things, used special equipment to suppress them and special equipment. The KGB of Belarus stated in February 2021 that protests had practically disappeared. In Belarus, criminal cases have been initiated against a number of opposition leaders, including calls for the seizure of power, the creation of an extremist formation, conspiracy to seize state power by unconstitutional means, and attempted terrorist attack.