Central Vilnius hosts rival protests over immigration

Two demonstrations over immigration policy are scheduled for Saturday in central Vilnius, with police expecting more than 200 officers to help maintain order, LRT reported. Barriers have been set up as participants gather.

The National Union, a right-wing party led by Vytautas Sinica, will hold its protest in Vincas Kudirka Square from 2 p.m. Left-wing activists will stage a demonstration against racism half an hour earlier across Gediminas Avenue. Police said the events would be about 50 metres apart.

Organisers expect about 500 people at the anti-immigration protest and around 100 at the counter-demonstration. The latter had previously been registered with the municipality for 400 participants.

The National Union has called for people to travel free by bus from across Lithuania and speak out against “mass migration”. Its demands include reducing migrant quotas and deporting foreigners who have committed crimes.

The Solidarity Network, Antifa, the Anarchist Union and Fridays for Future Lithuania are organising the demonstration against racism. Its organisers say the number of migrants in Lithuania is lower than politicians claim, and are concerned that political rhetoric is spreading panic and misleading information.

The municipality said it saw no threat in the protests taking place close to each other and said the events comply with the law on assemblies. Police plan to deploy more than 200 officers.

Some considered the protest too radical

Migration has recently featured prominently in public debate. In September, a group of men brought a pig’s head to a mosque in Kaunas; later, a Quran was allegedly burned in Vilnius. Pre-trial investigations have been launched in connection with the incidents.

Political parties told LRT they did not plan to attend the protests and were avoiding extreme positions. The informal far-right movement Defenders of the Homeland supports participation in the protest and is known for disputes over posters bearing slogans including “Lithuania for Lithuanians” and “Protest against LGBT ideology”.

The Liberal Movement, which has urged people to discuss immigration based on arguments, said individual party members could decide to attend on their own initiative. Individual Green Party members and Freedom Party leader Vytautas Mitalas also plan to visit the protests.

The migrant rights organisation Sienos grupė is holding an event called “Wake up from hate” at 1 p.m. alongside the demonstrations. Organisers said it was a response to the incident outside the Kaunas mosque and the National Union’s protest.

“We would not want to create a narrative of conflict or threat in advance. Our aim is to create a calm space for conversation and to remind people that migration is not an abstract political issue; it is part of the stories of many people and families living in Lithuania,” organiser Emilija Švobaitė told LRT.

Before the protest, Sinica told LRT Radio that provocations, including radical posters, would not be tolerated. He said a poster calling for Muslims to be shot would be removed and its owner asked to leave.

Laurynas Tomelaitis, one of the organisers of the demonstration against racism, said radical individuals on the right were a cause for concern.