Lithuanian authorities have banned Russian rapper Alisher Morgenshtern from entering the country for ten years. The Migration Department stated that the musician may pose a threat to national security.
According to the department, the decision was made following a request from the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and after collecting additional information. Earlier, the Mayor of Vilnius, Valdas Benkunskas, had asked the MFA to impose the entry ban ahead of the rapper’s scheduled concert.
“I cannot sit back and watch a performer come to Vilnius for the third time who cannot answer the question ‘Whose is Crimea?’, publicly expresses admiration for Putin, and has been included by Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture — at the request of the Security Service of Ukraine — on the list of individuals posing a threat to national security,” the mayor said.
After the previous concert in Vilnius, videos of concert-goers making “obscene gestures” circulated on social media, Delfi reports. Police also looked into allegations that attendees displayed the Z symbol, but were unable to confirm it.
In Russia, Morgenshtern was designated a “foreign agent” in 2022, and a criminal case was opened against him. He subsequently left the country and obtained Israeli citizenship.
