Vilnius marchers protest racism and hostility toward migrants

More than several dozen people marched through Vilnius on Saturday to protest racism and hostility toward migrants, LRT reported.

Protesters gathered outside Vilnius City Municipality in European Square and marched to Cathedral Square. They carried placards reading “Solidarity has no borders,” “No one is illegal,” “Let unity flourish” and “Fight for class, not race.” Some participants also carried Lithuanian, Palestinian and Ukrainian flags.

The event’s organisers said they wanted to oppose what they described as an “avalanche of anti-migrant policies” in Lithuania, driven by fear, xenophobia, alarmism and blame directed at migrants. They said they rejected anti-migrant narratives and condemned those spreading such rhetoric.

Residents who viewed the initiative sceptically also gathered in Cathedral Square, carrying Lithuanian flags. Some covered their faces with masks, hoods or sunglasses. They chanted “Lithuania will remain white” and held signs reading “White Lithuania is beautiful” and “White lives matter.”

The march organisers called for better living conditions for refugees, a clearer naturalisation process, increased funding and greater accountability for migrant integration programmes, as well as changes to laws addressing hate speech.

Their demands also included allowing migrants and refugees to bring family members to Lithuania, removing higher-level language requirements outside customer service jobs, and assigning responsibility for spreading disinformation about migrants to politicians and other public figures.