Lithuania expels 22 Belarusians deemed security threats

Lithuania has declared 22 Belarusian nationals a threat to national security and expelled them from the country, LRT reported, citing the State Security Department. Their temporary residence permits were revoked, and they were barred from returning to the Schengen area for five years.

The individuals had worked for a technology company involved in a project for the European Union Agency for the Space Programme. Investigators found that the company fraudulently obtained nearly 500,000 euros in EU funding while concealing links to Russia’s and Belarus’s military industries.

The investigation was conducted by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Financial Crime Investigation Service and the State Security Department. Authorities found that the company, controlled in Lithuania by Belarusian nationals, had joined an EUSPA project to develop high-precision satellite navigation equipment for agriculture.

The project had a total budget of 1,064,933.81 euros, including 745,453.67 euros in EUSPA funding. The company actually received 447,272 euros.

To obtain the funding, the company submitted a declaration stating that it was not subject to EU restrictive measures and had no links to sanctioned entities. The Vilnius Regional Court found that the false declaration enabled the company to obtain EU funding, access to the EU market and access to geospatial data.

The investigation, codenamed “Precision”, identified strong links between the defendants and the Russian and Belarusian military industries, which are subject to EU sanctions. After Russia launched its war against Ukraine, the company’s beneficial owners changed its management. In April 2022, a family member of the Belarusian defendants who held US and Lithuanian citizenship was appointed to lead the company, allegedly to bypass EU restrictions on Belarusian nationals.

However, the two Belarusian nationals continued to control the Lithuania-based company in practice. They held management positions at a Russia-based company that develops and tests satellite-navigation chips for military purposes and is subject to EU sanctions. One of the defendants also obtained Russian citizenship for personal purposes in 2020 or 2021.

The defendants admitted their guilt and compensated the damage of 447,272 euros. They were convicted of fraudulently obtaining EU funds together with other people, as well as document forgery and the use of forged documents.