Although the draft has passed the discussion stage like butter this time, the „shame“ board does not seem to be a big deal for some politicians. Parliamentarians decided to avoid it by „voting with their feet“.
112 MPs participated in the vote and chose the „yes“ button. There was also a bit of a misunderstanding: initially, the Liberal Simonas Gentvilas voted against, while Jevgenijus Šuklinas abstained. However, the politicians soon asked the Secretariat of the Seimas to note in the minutes that they had misspoken and made a mistake in their vote.
However, some MPs voted „with their feet.“ They were present in the Seimas Chamber, but they took out their cards as if to pretend that they were not present at the sitting. In this way, they avoided stating their position.
Among them were Ignas Vėgėlė and Valius Ąžuolas, members of the Lithuanian Peasants, Greens and Christian Families Union (LVZ-KŠS) group, who were present in the Seimas Chamber at the time and criticised the draft law during the debate.
Petras Dargis and Dainius Varnas, members of the Nemuno Aušra (Dawn of Nemunas), were registered at the Seimas morning session and did not participate in the vote. Rimas Jonas Jankūnas, a member of the LVŽ-KŠS group, was also present.
These politicians did not support the draft during the first vote, at the tabling stage, and were placed on the „board of shame“.
Parliament also approved the summary draft of the Committee on National Security and Defence, which contains proposals from some Conservatives those Belarusian citizens, like Russian citizens, should be stopped from being granted residence permits in Lithuania if they do not have a valid visa.
Meanwhile, existing permits should be revoked if Russian and Belarusian citizens travel to Russia and Belarus more than once in three months. An exception would be made for carriers and truck drivers transiting through these countries or if the journey is made for objective reasons beyond the traveller's control.
„A perfect vote – it showed who is who, it showed the level of hypocrisy that no one here wants tougher sanctions, no one wants more extended sanctions, no one wants restrictions on all goods. Nice.
Except will there now be collages of those who voted who did not agree to restrict all goods or extend for a longer period? Will there be? There won't be because that was for other things. But ideally, it has happened.
Because you are mocking people for the fact that he has returned to his homeland, I do not know how low you have to go. If a person has returned to his sick parents more than twice in three months, he will be thrown out of Lithuania,“ he growled.
For his part, before the vote, Vėgėlė repeated in the Seimas chamber that the vote on the extension of the sanctions, as it was last time and now, was „determined by public relations.“
According to him, there are no moral, legal or economic arguments why Lithuania should extend the sanctions on imports of Russian and Belarusian agricultural products and feed.
„These public relations determined the vote, but it is also very sad that it determined the content. It is obvious to everyone that it is necessary to stop Russia's military aggression in Ukraine, it is necessary to seek an end to Russia's military aggression and promote the establishment of peace, but in my understanding, this proposal does not achieve this at all in part concerning economic sanctions“, explained Vėgėlė.
He had also registered a couple of proposals, one of which was not to extend the restrictive measures on imports of agricultural products. The Seimas did not support this proposal. Parliament also rejected Vėgėlė's proposal to ban all Russian and Belarusian goods imports.
Ąžuolas also supported Vėgėlė: „If someone wants to argue, argue, and say that he (Vėgėlė) was wrong. He is not wrong.“
„It will be total hypocrisy. The cargo has been going as it has been going, and it will continue to do so,“ said Ąžuolas, who also opposed the Conservatives' proposal to tighten the restrictive measures on citizens of these countries returning to Russia and Belarus.
„Now 50,000 Belarusians will all become criminals for returning to their homeland more than once in 3 months. (...) Can you imagine the level of bullying based on nationality?“ – the Peasant asked.
Responding to such statements by members of the Seimas, the conservative Arvydas Pocius did not spare any criticism of such positions: „We have just heard three defenders of Belarus and Russia.“
He called for the Conservatives' proposals for stricter restrictions on persons returning to Belarus and Russia to be considered. According to politicians, intelligence reports show that such individuals could become potential targets for special services.
„Every departure and return to Lithuania – it is possible that these persons have received certain instructions on what to do here and what their tasks are here in Lithuania. This should also be discussed,“ Pocius said.
After being tabled, the parliament approved the government's draft law in March, but those who did not support it or abstained from voting were in the spotlight.
Robertas Puchovičius of Nemuno Aušra, Ąžuolas of the Peasants' Party, and Vėgėlė and Jankūnas of their joint group voted against extending the sanctions against the Russians and the Byelorussians.
The abstentions were made by the Dawn members Remigijus Žemaitaitis, Aidas Gedvilas, Artūras Skardžius, Lina Šukytė-Korsakė, Daiva Žebelienė, Dainoras Bradauskas, Tomáš Domarkas, Martynas Gedvilas, Vytautas Jucius, Dargis, and Varnas.
The other Lithuanian Peasants, Greens and Christian Families Union group members are Bronis Ropė, Eimantas Kirkutis and Česlavas Olševskis.
As Žemaitaitis, Chairman of Nemuno Aušra, said at the time, his group did not support the proposal because it retained the ban on importing agricultural products.
However, after the vote, when the state leaders started discussing the fifth column forming in the Seimas, the Nemuno Aušra leader pointed out that it had been decided to support the project.
The members of the opposition group Lithuanian Peasants, Greens and the Union of Christian Families also voted negatively, with three abstentions and three votes against. Immediately afterwards, the Peasant Party's Board of Directors rebuked their colleagues in the Seimas and called their position a reckless and inappropriate political decision.
The law on national sanctions stipulates that these restrictive measures apply until 2 May this year. It is proposed that this deadline be extended by another year.
The latest law tightens the procedures for granting permanent and temporary residence permits, issuing visas and granting electronic resident status to Russian and Belarusian citizens. It also bans the movement of Russian citizens across the EU's external border and assesses new entrants for additional risks.
In addition, the legislation restricts Russian citizens' right to acquire real estate in Lithuania, to import agricultural products and feed of Russian and Belarusian origin, and to import Ukrainian hryvnias.