Lithuania Imposes Decade-Long Ban on Exiled Rap Star Morgenshtern Due to Security Concerns

Lithuania has imposed a 10-year entry ban on the exiled Russian rapper Morgenshtern, according to local news reports from Thursday.

The migration authorities in Lithuania informed the Baltic News Service that this decision was made based on a written recommendation from the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, which suggested that Morgenshtern could represent a threat to the nation’s security.

“A. Morgenshtern’s entry ban is effective immediately and will last for 10 years,” a spokesperson for the migration department of the Lithuanian Interior Ministry told BNS. Additional information was not disclosed.

Morgenshtern, whose actual name is Alisher Valeyev, has not yet made any public statement regarding the entry restriction imposed by Lithuania. A concert scheduled for November 29 in Vilnius still appears on his official tour website.

Last month, Valdas Benkunskas, the Mayor of Vilnius, requested that the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry consider placing Morgenshtern on the national list of undesirable individuals. He cited the rapper’s previous comments about annexed Crimea, President Vladimir Putin, and noted that Ukraine had already banned him.

Ukraine added Morgenshtern to its blacklist in 2021, just prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion, accusing him of promoting violence and drug use through his music.

One of Russia’s most controversial rappers, Morgenshtern is currently under a criminal investigation in Russia for not complying with the country’s “foreign agent” reporting requirements. Russian authorities have confiscated his assets and placed him on the wanted list.

Morgenshtern, known for his explicit lyrics and provocative style that have drawn criticism from conservative groups, left Russia in November 2021 after facing allegations of drug trafficking from federal investigators.

In May 2022, three months following the invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s Justice Ministry designated Morgenshtern as a “foreign agent.”