Lithuanian govt not involved Belarusian opposition 'passport' process – minister

VILNIUS – Lithuania's government is not involved in the the Belarusian opposition's "passport" creation process, Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys says.

His comment came in response to the outcry by some politicians that the mockups of the Belarusian documents feature a knight on a horse, similar to Lithuania's Vytis.

In Lithuania, the symbol is called the Vytis, and it's called the Pahonia in Belarus. Both derived from the same coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but some of their elements differ.

The document mockusp feature a knight on a horse. In Lithuania, the symbol is called the Vytis, and a similar symbol, called the Pahonia, is used in Belarus. Both derived from the same coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but some of their elements differ.

The mockups of such a document featuring the above-mentioned knight were shared by Tsikhanouskaya on social media earlier this week. In her post, she also thanked the Lithuanian government "support and advice".

Although this "passport" is not officially recognized as a travel document, the Belarusian politician says she regularly raises this issue in meetings with foreign politicians.

"A democratic and free Belarus is in Lithuania's national security interest, and Lithuania actively supports the democratic forces in Belarus. The Lithuanian government is not involved in the implementation of the Belarusian democratic forces' initiative on the creation of new passports," Budrys told BNS on Thursday, adding that a foreigner's passport is issued to Belarusians living in Lithuania on humanitarian grounds.

According to Lithuania's top diplomat, the Vytis is not used on the "passport" of democratic Belarus.

"We have been seeing propaganda narratives spread by the Lukashenko regime in Lithuania for some time now, aimed at pitting the Lithuanian and Belarusian democratic forces against each other," the minister said. "One of the main propaganda lines is an attempt to pit Lithuanian and Belarusian democratic forces against each other on the issue of state symbols."

"Speaking of this issue, just as the issue of Litvinism, we can see the purposeful activity of the Lukashenko regime. As Lukashenko's reappointment event at the end of January nears, the regime will step up its efforts to stir up divisions and discredit the democratic forces in Belarus," Budrys said.

This is the debate involving the Belarusian opposition's "passport" in Lithuania. Early last year, photographs of a document mockup emerged and they incorrectly showed the border between Lithuania and Belarus. The Belarusian opposition then called it a "technical error" and vowed to correct it.