'Not a guest house for Putin worshippers' — Controversial Russian rapper banned from entering Lithuania
Russian rapper Morgenshtern has been banned from entering Lithuania for 10 years after the government deemed him a potential "threat to national security."
Morgenshtern had been scheduled to perform in Vilnius, the country’s capital, later this month. Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas welcomed the rapper's entry ban, telling the Kyiv Independent on Nov. 13 that his city is "not a guest house for (Vladimir) Putin worshippers."
"I truly appreciate the decision of the national institutions, by which they expressed a clear position on the absurdity of the situation we had before," Benkunskas said, adding that it would have been Morgenshtern's third concert in Vilnius since the start of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
"Previously, appeals were made to the awareness and responsibility of the event organizers, but it changed nothing, so it was not enough. Finally, Lithuania said 'stop' to this."
A spokesperson from Lithuania's Migration Department told the Baltic News Service that the ban "takes effect immediately" but provided the media outlet no other information.
Although Morgenshtern, whose real name is Alisher Valeyev, was sanctioned by the Russian government as a "foreign agent" in 2022, he has a history of publicly praising Russian President Vladimir Putin and making questionable statements about Ukraine.
In a 2019 interview with Russian journalist Yuriy Dud, Morgenshtern referred to Putin as "the man" and said it's better to "accept everything" than to fight injustice in the world.
During a 2021 interview with Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon, Morgenshtern refused to acknowledge that Russian-occupied Crimea is part of Ukraine and said that "as a showman" he respects how "the whole world fears Putin."
Some have praised Morgenshtern’s songs post-2022 as being anti-war, but many of them, like the song "12," avoid political framing with broad statements like "He is Ukrainian, I am Russian. We make music together. We want peace. We want friendship."
News of Morgenshtern's 10-year ban from entering Lithuania comes as the European Union moves to tighten multiple-entry visa rules for Russian citizens, citing security concerns.
The EU has also called for Russian visa applications to be "scrutinized thoroughly and frequently" to "mitigate threats to public policy or internal security."
European governments have sounded the alarm over a growing wave of hybrid operations aimed at Ukraine's allies in the European Union and NATO, including arson, cyberattacks, infrastructure sabotage, and drone incursions.
Critics of the measures caution that the crackdown on multiple-entry visas could put Russian democracy activists, independent journalists, human rights defenders, and others who dangerous work within Russia at heightened risk.
However, exemptions to the tightening of visa rules may apply to humanitarian cases, family members of EU citizens, Russian citizens who are legally residing in the EU, and certain professionals.
