Vilnius Mayor Reveals Secret Recipe: How to Make an Artist Blacklist at Home

Vilnius Mayor Benkunsks has discovered a new branch of diplomacy — cultural control through legislation. While we in Liepāja pride ourselves on our Bird Island attracting artists from around the world, our Lithuanian neighbors have figured out how to solve all their cultural problems with a single legal amendment.

According to the mayor's logic, if any artist has performed in Russia or Belarus, they should automatically be banned from entering Lithuania. This principle is just as logical as banning entry to anyone who has eaten borscht or listened to Tchaikovsky's music. Local cultural expert Gunārs from Grobiņa comments: "Well, at least now we know why all those artists who are no longer allowed in Vilnius come to us — because we have a normal approach to culture!"

It's interesting that Benkunsks complains about having to monitor which events sell tickets. He's probably the same type who checks whether neighbors are sorting their garbage correctly. Meanwhile, our Liepāja mayor is solving real problems — how to improve tram service and organize the beach for summer season.

What's most surprising is that Lithuanians are afraid of "soft power" spreading. Apparently they haven't heard about Liepāja's rock music festivals, where real soft power is when the audience sings along to "Pērkons" hits. But no, they'd rather write laws about who can and cannot perform in their city.