Lithuania’s Seimas will consider a draft law providing for fines of up to 300 euros for the use or distribution of St. George ribbons with black and orange stripes in the country.
“It is obvious that the ribbon has become a symbol of Russian imperialism for the recent years,” MP Laurynas Kasčiūnas said.
Kasčiūnas, one of the autors of the bill, believes that the symbol brings hatred and discord, and its use should be limited, as it happened to Nazi and Soviet symbols.
According to the autors, despite the fact that the true goal of the St. George ribbons is reminding of Soviet victory over Nazi Germany and showing respect to veterans, Lithuania has nothing to celebrate, because the end of the war resilted in 50 years of Soviet occupation.
Seimas is expected to review the project at the autumn session. In 2008, Lithuania enforced a ban on Soviet and Nazi symbols.
in 2017, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada passed the bill on banning the production and public use of Saint George ribbons. According to the bill, a fine will be imposed public use, demonstration or wearing of such ribbons or their images. In case of further violation, an offender may be fined again or even sentenced to up to 15 days in jail.
Since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict, St. George ribbon has been the symbol of the occupation of Crimea, as well as pro-Russian separatists in Donbas. Until recently, it was used in Belarus at the official level during the celebration of Victory Day, but later it was replaced with a ribbon in the national flag colours.
