Car barred over Soviet symbol

Published on 02/08/2012 00:00

Lithuanian border guards stopped a man from entering their country in his Porsche 
because a hammer-and-sickle – the symbol of the Soviet Union – was drawn on the car’s bonnet.

Displaying Nazi or Soviet symbols is illegal in Lithuania, a former Soviet republic that 
was occupied by the communist regime for a half-century but 
regained independence in 1991.

Lithuania’s state border guard said the 26-year-old Belarussian man had a valid passport and visa but was told he could only enter Lithuania by foot or bus. The car would have to remain behind. The man chose to drive back to Belarus.