Lithuanian MPs not meeting COVID pass requirements to be barred from parlt building

  • 2021-12-30
  • BNS/TBT Staff

VILNIUS – Lithuanian lawmakers who will fail to prove that they meet the requirements for obtaining a COVID health pass will have their access cards deactivated, meaning that they will not be able enter the parliament building, the Board of the Seimas decided on Thursday.

"Members of the Seimas come to the building to perform their work functions, so [...] the proposal is that they are subjected to the same rules as the staff of the Office of the Seimas," Modestas Gelbuda, head of the office, said during the board's meeting. 

MPs will have until January 6 to submit documents proving that are fully vaccinated or have recently recovered from COVID-19, and until January 10 to provide proof of a negative test result. 

If they fail to submit the necessary documents to the Office of the Seimas, they will be barred from entering the building as of January 11. 

Gelbuda noted that lawmakers, just like staff, will not have to show a COVID health pass while entering the building. This requirement only applies to visitors and journalists. 

Seimas praejusia savaite prieme Seimo statuto pataisas, kad nuo sausio i parlamenta Seimo narys gales ieiti tik pateikes dokumenta, patvirtinanti asmens atitikti Vyriausybes nutarime del ekstremaliosios situacijos arba karantino paskelbimo nurodytiems kriterijams.

Last week, the Seimas amended its statute to require that lawmakers present a document proving that they meet the criteria in order to enter the building from January.