Lithuania proposes curbs on Russian and Belarusian property purchases

Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry has proposed restricting Russian and Belarusian citizens from buying real estate near strategically important infrastructure, LRT reported. The measure is part of a new national sanctions package.

Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said the restrictions would apply to property near security-sensitive facilities and military areas to reduce risks to their operations.

Russian and Belarusian citizens own about 14,000 properties in Lithuania, mostly in major cities and municipalities near the border.

Opposition conservatives support restrictions near critical infrastructure but say the measure could go further. Conservative leader Laurynas Kasčiūnas said he would support restricting all Russian and Belarusian citizens from purchasing property in Lithuania, with the proposed limits serving as a compromise.

Between 2022 and 2024, nearly 1,900 Russian citizens and more than 1,100 Belarusian citizens bought property within 10 kilometres of important infrastructure in Lithuania. Some had only temporary residence permits.

Latvia banned Russian and Belarusian citizens from buying real estate anywhere in the country last year. The ban also applies to companies in which citizens of those countries own at least a quarter of the capital or are the beneficial owners.

LRT’s correspondent in Latvia, Rolandas Žalnierius, said the Latvian authorities had assessed broader risks, including the use of real estate to expand Russian and Belarusian economic or political influence, evade sanctions and create hybrid threats.

Analyst Marius Laurinavičius said the proposed restrictions would strengthen national security but questioned whether they were the best approach. He noted that pro-Russian Lithuanian citizens could also pose a threat if they bought property near strategically important facilities.

The ministry’s expanded sanctions package would also allow activities by Russian and Belarusian citizens in education, culture, sports and entertainment to be prohibited if they support Russia’s war, contribute to occupation or human rights violations, or pose a threat to democracy.

Budrys said such decisions should take into account not only whether a person had performed in Russia, Belarus or occupied territories, but also the frequency and scale of the activity, its influence and the overall message conveyed by propaganda.

Conservatives also want Lithuania to stop issuing temporary residence permits to Belarusians who come to the country to work. Kasčiūnas said Belarusians with temporary permits who regularly return to Belarus could become potential targets of the country’s special services.

Laurinavičius said it could instead be sufficient to restrict how often Belarusians return to their home country. He also said the government lacked a systematic approach to national security and was sometimes more focused on appearing to act than on addressing the problems fundamentally.