Lithuania's new head of the Ministry of Culture condemned attempts to cancel Russian culture in the country

Lithuania's new Culture Minister Šarūnas Birutis said on December 5 that he condemns attempts to abolish Russian culture in the republic.

In his opinion, Lithuanian officials should distinguish between culture and politics.

"We understand perfectly well that the Russian people are not the Kremlin. Anyway, they have been our neighbors for thousands of years and will probably be our neighbors in the future," Delfi quoted Birutis as saying.

The culture minister also emphasized that Lithuania has a significant number of Russian-speaking citizens. He considers it wrong to put negative labels on nationality and said that politicians should not do so.

Earlier, on October 9, Lithuania placed concrete defensive barriers "dragon's teeth" on the Panyamune-Sovetsk bridge over the Neman River leading to the Kaliningrad Region in the Russian Federation, and on September 5 - in the town of Panyamune in the area of the Queen Louise Bridge. Later, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Alexei Chepa, called such a decision a silly PR campaign. He expressed confidence that in this way the country's authorities were showing Russophobia.

August 22, the Ministry of Defense of Lithuania reported that the country would spend €4 million to install anti-tank equipment on the borders with Russia and Belarus. The ministry reported that 27 parks of engineering equipment were being created near the borders. In one such zone, they intend to create conditions for blocking 6-8 possible ways of the enemy.

Before that, on January 14, it was reported that in Lithuania want to close Russian schools. Instead of it may start teaching Ukrainian. According to Minister of Education, Science and Sports Gintautas Jakstas, when choosing the format of education, it is necessary to take as a reference point the official languages of the European Union and conclude agreements with countries "friendly to Lithuania". Proposals on the transfer to learning other foreign languages will be prepared in the coming weeks.

In November 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the policy of "abolishing Russia" was racist and anti-cultural. The head of state emphasized that art still knows no borders despite sanctions and any other bans. Shortly after that, the Russian leader said that the Russian Federation had faced Russophobia in the Baltics long before the start of a special military operation to defend Donbas.