“Back in November, I appealed to the relevant institutions – the Foreign Ministry, the Interior Ministry and the Migration Department – to consider banning this performer from entering Lithuania,” Benkunskas wrote on Facebook, adding he was „deeply disappointed“ by the ministry’s stance.
“The saddest thing is that I do not even hear any arguments, only a formal ‘no’,” he said.
Municipal experts had identified at least seven concerts Gio Pika staged in Russia since the war began, accusing the artist of “earning money both in Europe and from the occupiers”, according to the mayor.
“If he cannot make up his mind, then we should do it for him,” the mayor said.
Gio Pika is due to perform in Vilnius on 21 March.
Organisers said the rapper “was born in the Ossetia Region, which was occupied by Russia during the war, and cannot be associated with Russia’s political or ideological space”.
Vilnius Mayor Benkunskas has previously raised concerns over performers linked to Russia. In October, he urged the Foreign Ministry to consider banning Russian rapper Alisher Morgenshtern ahead of a planned November concert in Vilnius.
Morgenshtern drew controversy after a March 2023 concert in the Lithuanian capital, when images circulated on social media showing attendees making obscene gestures and wearing clothing bearing the letter “Z”, a symbol of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In November, the Migration Department added Morgenshtern, who holds Russian and Israeli citizenship, to its list of undesirable persons, barring him from entering the country for 10 years.