Rival Vilnius protests sharpen debate over immigration

Two rival demonstrations over immigration and racism are planned in central Vilnius on Saturday, as police reinforce their presence and organizers trade warnings about possible provocation. LRT reports that the events have also prompted a dispute over the scale of migration to Lithuania.

The protest “Against mass immigration” will take place in Vinco Kudirka Square, with a counter-protest, “Demonstration against racism,” on the opposite side of the square. A separate event, “Wake up from hate,” is planned in Lukiškės Square.

Laurynas Tomelaitis, one of the anti-racism counter-protest organizers, said the demonstrations taking place near each other was natural but warned of possible provocation and violence. He alleged that public online channels circulate fascist and neo-Nazi content and encourage violence against left-wing anti-fascists, members of the Lithuanian Green Party, universities and lecturers.

National Alliance leader and MP Vytautas Sinica said he was unaware of those claims. He said intelligence assessments indicate that radical individuals are present on both the right and the left, but are usually isolated cases. Political and cultural disagreements, he said, should be resolved through discussion.

Sinica said organizers would not tolerate provocation or violence and would ask people responsible to leave. He gave a sign calling for Muslims to be shot as an example of a banner that would be removed. He also said people had the right to express views and make political demands on migration, including seeking a reduction in the number of foreigners through political decisions rather than violence.

Tomelaitis said the counter-protest would have safety rules encouraging participants to keep their distance and avoid confrontation. He said organizers would urge people to alert event volunteers or authorities if a conflict arose or the environment became unsafe.

Tomelaitis argued that migration to Lithuania was not currently taking place on a large scale. He said people with residence permits make up about 8% of the population and that, at the current pace and without accounting for departures, it would take 10 years for Muslims to make up just 3% of people with residence permits.