Craft seller alleges blacklist threat over Crimea question in Druskininkai

Folk artist and sculptor Aivaras Norbutas says he was threatened with being blacklisted from fairs in Druskininkai after asking Russian-speaking customers whether Crimea belongs to Ukraine. The Druskininkai Cultural Centre, which organised the fair, said it has no blacklist and that Norbutas was only reprimanded, LRT reported.

Norbutas said he has asked Russian-speaking customers the question since 2022. If they answer that Crimea belongs to Ukraine, he is willing to communicate with them in Russian. If they say Crimea belongs to Russia, or avoid answering by saying that they do not discuss politics, he ends the conversation.

He said that customers in Druskininkai gave three answers identifying Crimea as Russian, while others said it belonged to Crimeans or that the question was political. Norbutas described the practice as his “personal sanctions” against Russian speakers who do not know who Crimea belongs to.

According to Norbutas, a woman approached his stall on Friday and asked in Russian how much a bread box cost. He told her he would speak Russian only after she answered the Crimea question. The woman objected and said she could also ask in German, but did not answer the question.

Norbutas said that later a cultural centre employee, ethnographer Lina Balčiūnienė, and another woman responsible for organising the fair approached him. He said they told him that he was either already on, or would be placed on, a blacklist and would no longer be allowed to sell at fairs in Druskininkai if he continued asking such questions.

Norbutas said he was told that such questions could not be asked of visitors to Druskininkai and that Russian speakers could not be discriminated against. He said the example of guests from different countries attending a folklore festival, including Volga Germans, was mentioned.

Druskininkai Cultural Centre director Raimonda Varaškaitė told LRT that the centre does not have any blacklist of traders barred from fairs. She said one guide accompanying a group had complained about Norbutas, but that the artist was only given a warning and was not removed from the fair.

Norbutas said that around 70 percent of responses to his question are correct, while answers that Crimea belongs to Russia account for about 1 to 3 percent. He said such cases are now isolated.