In 2022, Lithuania’s then-Culture Minister Simonas Kairys decided that performing Russian composer Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet "The Nutcracker" was no longer an appropriate way to celebrate the Christmas season. Lithuania is a staunch supporter of Ukraine, and Kairys, believing that Russian culture could not be separated from Russian imperialism, called for a “mental quarantine” — otherwise known as “cultural decolonization.” At the end of last year, Šarūnas Birutis, the newly in