Thirteen Lithuanian Citizens successfully came back to Lithuania from Canada
After the announcement of the registration of citizens who had no possibility to return to Lithuania on their own, nearly fifty citizens contacted the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to Canada. Thirteen Lithuanians left for Lithuania on March 28th by a flight from Toronto to Warsaw and form Warsaw to Vilnius on chartered flights. This flight was organized by the Lithuanian authorities in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Poland to Canada and the Polish Government. They all successfully returned home on Sunday evening.
“Our world has changed drastically over the past few days due to COVID-19. It is a long trip coming back from Canada to Lithuania. Commercial flights have been changing, majority of them were cancelled. The window of opportunity was gradually closing. Colleagues in Vilnius agreed to make an intermediate stop in Warsaw on the Tenerife-Vilnius flight and bring Lithuanians already waiting there on the same plane. Of course, without the Polish authorities, this plan would not have been implemented. We are grateful to the Lithuanian and Polish Governments - only thanks to the close partnership between the two states we managed to arrange this flight”- said Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to Canada Darius Skusevičius.
During this difficult period, Canada became a transit country to Europe for many Lithuanians traveling from North and South America, the Caribbean and other regions. As a result, 32 of 50 Lithuanians who applied to the Embassy to Canada were Lithuanian citizens wishing to leave Canada, others were transit travelers through Canada. To provide them with all the help and respond to requests in a timely manner, the Embassy in March provided 24/7 service for Lithuanians. Some of Lithuanians managed to find flights themselves while others decided to stay in Canada for a longer period of time. Flight Toronto-Warsaw-Vilnius was coordinated by the Embassy.
Canada plans to further tighten travel and restrict not only travel through country but also travel inside country from March 30th. Citizens and residents with COVID-19 symptoms will not be able to board domestic transit trains or planes.
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