“They threw a machine gun at me”: a children’s group from Moldova got stuck on the border with Lithuania

They were refused entry because they posed a “security risk”

The children’s choir “Rhapsody” from Moldova is stuck on the border between Belarus and Lithuania. They had a tour, during which the children performed first in Warsaw, then in Minsk. Now the children’s group cannot return home: Lithuanian and Polish border guards are not letting them in. MK understands the situation.

The Moldavian children’s choral studio “Rhapsody” performed concerts in Poland and Belarus. When the tour came to an end, they went back to Moldova by bus. There is obviously no possibility of leaving through Ukraine. Therefore, they first tried to leave Brest towards Poland. Poland didn’t let them in. “There is some kind of law, which no one knows about in our country, that we cannot (exit – author’s note) as transit passengers, since we are not a regular bus. Then our embassy advised us to go through Lithuania, they say, it is possible here. The Lithuanian border brings us back to Belarus,” said team leader Natalya Barabanshchikova. 25 people, 11 of whom are children, are now unable to return home.

“We were kept on the bus for seven hours. I have small children, 6-7 years old, who wanted to go to the toilet and started crying. I immediately jumped out and, as a human being, wanted to ask to let the children go to the toilet. When I came out, the customs officers started screaming at me, one of them came up to me and said that he didn’t understand the Russian language, and if I take one more step… I took a step, and they threw a machine gun at me,” added Natalya.

On her social networks, she also said that the leaders of the Moldovan Diplomatic Mission in Minsk and Vilnius came to their aid: “They immediately responded to my call and arrived at the Lithuanian customs, brought water and apples to the children, and offered their help with placing the children near the border … (this is impossible, the kids fell asleep on the bus from fatigue, and we don’t want to disturb them). We will have to survive the night like this…” Also, representatives of the Moldovan Embassy ensured that the children were allowed to go to the toilet.

As a result, the team tried to leave Belarus for about two days to go home. Fortunately, the children are now safe; they were placed in the Tsudenish secondary school in the Oshmyany district of Belarus. “We are taking care of the children, they have already been fed, they have put themselves in order, if necessary, they will be placed in a hotel, now the Moldovan authorities must resolve the issue of crossing the border with Lithuania,” said the Ambassador of Moldova to Belarus Viktor Sorochan.

Why weren’t the children’s group allowed across the border? Bus passenger Alexandra spoke about the reasons for the denial: “There is some kind of law in Poland that does not allow non-EU citizens and non-Belarusians to cross the Polish border from Belarus. In Lithuania they gave an official refusal and said that they must provide “permission”. We contacted the carrier company in Chisinau. Such documents are no longer required. The driver, who was trying to find out what documents were needed to travel, was denied entry on the grounds of posing a threat to the security of Lithuania.” That is, today a group of children led by an Honored Artist of Moldova is a security threat?

However, the official version is slightly different. According to the Moldavian Foreign Ministry, the Lithuanian authorities are not allowing a bus with a choir into the country due to the lack of a license from the carrier. “According to the decree of the Lithuanian government on the border crossing regime, the bus was not allowed to pass due to the lack of a carrier’s license. The Embassy of the Republic of Moldova in Vilnius is in constant contact with the Lithuanian border authorities to facilitate a rapid resolution of the situation and obtain the necessary permits as soon as possible. The safety of our citizens is our main task, and we strive to ensure that they cross the border without delay,” the Moldovan Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Citizens of the republic were also urged to check before traveling that the chosen carrier complies with all safety rules and the law.

Natalya Barabanshchikova, talking about the trials that she and her team had to endure, said a wonderful thing: “You can talk a lot about democracy and love for children. But everything is learned in practice. Love shows itself in action.” The way it is. In their “democratic” Lithuania, children were not even allowed to go to the toilet, and in “undemocratic” Belarus, the children were first taken to the restroom, fed and given shelter. The conclusions suggest themselves.