Confusion over S. Loboda: Will Lithuania be removed from the list of undesirables?
Due to public outrage over the concert tour of singer Svitlana Loboda in Lithuania, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced last week that the singer is being added to the country’s list of unwanted persons. However, nothing is completely clear yet, the LNK report says.
In 2009, S. Loboda stood under the Ukrainian flag on the Eurovision stage. The artist with Ukrainian citizenship is very popular. She was also recognized as “Singer of the Year” and “Woman of the Year”. However, it was not the title performers that caused the trouble. After the occupation of Crimea, S. Loboda continued to perform actively, singing songs glorifying the Russian army on the 9th of May. He planned to start a concert tour in the big cities of Lithuania next week. Due to public outrage, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced last week that the artist was declared persona non grata In Lithuania, she is drawn to the country’s list of undesirable persons.
“Ukraine is also being consulted about how they have acted and who they have added to the list of unwanted persons,” commented Culture Minister Simonas Kairys.
However, it later turned out that there are no legal arguments to add the artist to the unwanted list.
The entire LNK report is in the video:
“After investigation, it became clear that objective data proving that the performer can be included in the persona non grata there is no list at the moment”, said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mantas Adomėnas.
The organizers of the artist’s concerts in Lithuania are outraged.
“The reaction is endless, thousands of people are calling and asking if the concerts will take place. It is self-evident that the concerts taking place will no longer take place, because even the ticket systems have stopped sales”, commented Redas Misiulis, the director of “Shou idejas” indignantly.
“In Lithuania, as long as there is a war with Russia, as long as Ukrainian war refugees are a significant part of our society, such questions will always arise. And for private event organizers, there will always be a risk that one or another person will be added to the list of unwanted persons”, said S. Kairys.
The organizers say they don’t see any problems with the fact that the performer has performed in Crimea. It is said that after the start of the war, S. Loboda changed his views for a long time – he went to the West.
“We were interested in the fact that she has expressed a position against the war. He left Russia, R. Misiulis said. – He terminated his million-dollar contracts, his career. He founded his Svitlanas Loboda Foundation and continues his activities, one might say, in the European Union,” R. Misiulis said, rehabilitating the artist.
An important circumstance is that in March Ukraine removed the singer S. Loboda from the list of unwanted persons.
In the end, it turned out that the Ukrainian female performers do not hold their own either.
“An important circumstance is that in March, Ukraine itself removed the singer S. Loboda from the list of unwanted persons,” stated M. Adomėnas.
The performer’s past caused doubts for Latvians as well. Organizers of one event did not allow the singer to participate in a charity event supported by Ukraine. However, the organizers of her concert in Lithuania say they do not understand the criteria used to judge which performers are a threat and which are not.
“It should be measured by one measure, because now there was a concert by Maksim Galkin, who has performed in Crimea and said that Crimea is little Russia. The concerts went very well a week ago and no one raised the issue,” R. Misiulis expressed his opinion.
According to the ministries, no one makes any lists in advance.
“That issue is now under consideration, the material is being collected. After receiving new information, a different decision can be made,” said M. Adomėnas.
Such Russian stars as Philip Kirkorov, Grigorij Leps, Oleg Gazmanov, Nataša Koroliova and Khabib Sharipov are considered undesirable in Lithuania.