Russian rapper Morgenshtern has been banned from entering Lithuania for 10 years after authorities deemed him a potential “threat to national security.” The ban comes ahead of a scheduled performance in Vilnius, the country’s capital, later this month.
Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas welcomed the decision, telling the Kyiv Independent on Nov. 13 that the city is “not a guest house for [Vladimir] Putin worshippers.” He added, “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 noted that Morgenshtern’s planned concert would have been his third in Vilnius since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of 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,” the mayor said.
A spokesperson from Lithuania’s Migration Department confirmed to the Baltic News Service that the ban “takes effect immediately” but provided no further details.
Morgenshtern, whose real name is Alisher Valeyev, was sanctioned by the Russian government as a “foreign agent” in 2022. He also has a history of publicly praising Russian President Vladimir Putin and making controversial statements about Ukraine.
In a 2019 interview with Russian journalist Yuriy Dud, Morgenshtern referred to Putin as “the man” and suggested it was better to “accept everything” than to fight injustice in the world. In a 2021 interview with Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon, he refused to acknowledge that Russian-occupied Crimea is part of Ukraine, saying that “as a showman” he respects how “the whole world fears Putin.”
Some of Morgenshtern’s post-2022 songs have been interpreted as anti-war, but many, such as the track “12,” avoid political commentary, instead offering broad statements like: “He is Ukrainian, I am Russian. We make music together. We want peace. We want friendship.”
Morgenshtern’s ban coincides with European Union efforts to tighten multiple-entry visa rules for Russian citizens, citing security concerns. The EU has called for Russian visa applications to be “scrutinized thoroughly and frequently” to “mitigate threats to public policy or internal security.”
European governments have raised alarms over a growing wave of hybrid operations targeting Ukraine’s allies in the EU and NATO, including arson, cyberattacks, infrastructure sabotage, and drone incursions.
Critics caution that stricter visa measures could endanger Russian democracy activists, independent journalists, human rights defenders, and others performing sensitive work inside Russia. However, exemptions may apply for humanitarian cases, family members of EU citizens, Russian citizens legally residing in the EU, and certain professionals.
