VILNIUS — Being a radical political misfit can cause you problems sometimes, as Lithuanian politician Algirdas Paleckis has found out.

Paleckis, who leads the far-left party Frontas was stopped on the border between Estonia and Latvia and told he was on a persona non grata list in the northernmost Baltic state because of his politics.

The party leader, who is notorious for stirring the pot with protests, sympathetic views on the [private_supervisor]Soviet occupation and other public actions, was on his way to Tallinn to protest in a picket outside the NATO meeting on Estonia’s forces in Afganistan.

“They did not let us in, because we are in a persona non grata list. The border guard said something about wrong views,” Paleckis told the Baltic News Service.

The picket on Wednesday, which the police did not give permission for, drew a host of protesters from the region. The newspaper Lietuvos Rytas reported that other protesters from Russia had also been blocked at the border for the same reason.

The protesters say that since international forces entered Afghanistan that the drug export trade there has bloomed. Indeed, Russia — the world’s most heroin-addicted country — is estimated to have over 300,000 heroin addicts with 40,000 of them dying each year from the habit. Much of the drugs originate from Afghanistan where opium growers are given free reign to grow the narcotic.

In Lithuania, Paleckis has been involved in multiple protest actions, some more successful than others. He was a prominent figure in the protest-cum-riot in January 2009, when protesters smashed up the Seimas’ exterior and destroyed a police car. He also organized the “onion rally” where he delivered a wheelbarrow of spray painted onions to the Seimas to give to every parliamentarian as a reward for their poor behavior. However, his promise in early 2009 for a wave of protests coordinated by Frontas turned out to be empty, and the party remains on the margins of the Lithuanian political scene advocating for increased isolationism and ramped-up state control of the economy.

Paleckis points out that building a grassroots movement takes time.

“We expect the result of that to be maybe, in some years, so that we can teach people how to be civilly active and not passive, not to emigrate but to fight for their rights here,” Paleckis told Baltic Reports in past interviews. “Next year, two years, three years, four years.”

— Baltic Reports editor Nathan Greenhalgh contributed to this article. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]Soviet occupation and other public actions, was on his way to Tallinn to protest in a picket outside the NATO meeting on Estonia’s forces in Afganistan.

“They did not let us in, because we are in a persona non grata list. The border guard said something about wrong views,” Paleckis told the Baltic News Service.

The picket on Wednesday, which the police did not give permission for, drew a host of protesters from the region. The newspaper Lietuvos Rytas reported that other protesters from Russia had also been blocked at the border for the same reason.

The protesters say that since international forces entered Afghanistan that the drug export trade there has bloomed. Indeed, Russia — the world’s most heroin-addicted country — is estimated to have over 300,000 heroin addicts with 40,000 of them dying each year from the habit. Much of the drugs originate from Afghanistan where opium growers are given free reign to grow the narcotic.

In Lithuania, Paleckis has been involved in multiple protest actions, some more successful than others. He was a prominent figure in the protest-cum-riot in January 2009, when protesters smashed up the Seimas’ exterior and destroyed a police car. He also organized the “onion rally” where he delivered a wheelbarrow of spray painted onions to the Seimas to give to every parliamentarian as a reward for their poor behavior. However, his promise in early 2009 for a wave of protests coordinated by Frontas turned out to be empty, and the party remains on the margins of the Lithuanian political scene advocating for increased isolationism and ramped-up state control of the economy.

Paleckis points out that building a grassroots movement takes time.

“We expect the result of that to be maybe, in some years, so that we can teach people how to be civilly active and not passive, not to emigrate but to fight for their rights here,” Paleckis told Baltic Reports in past interviews. “Next year, two years, three years, four years.”

— Baltic Reports editor Nathan Greenhalgh contributed to this article. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]Soviet occupation and other public actions, was on his way to Tallinn to protest in a picket outside the NATO meeting on Estonia’s forces in Afganistan.

“They did not let us in, because we are in a persona non grata list. The border guard said something about wrong views,” Paleckis told the Baltic News Service.

The picket on Wednesday, which the police did not give permission for, drew a host of protesters from the region. The newspaper Lietuvos Rytas reported that other protesters from Russia had also been blocked at the border for the same reason.

The protesters say that since international forces entered Afghanistan that the drug export trade there has bloomed. Indeed, Russia — the world’s most heroin-addicted country — is estimated to have over 300,000 heroin addicts with 40,000 of them dying each year from the habit. Much of the drugs originate from Afghanistan where opium growers are given free reign to grow the narcotic.

In Lithuania, Paleckis has been involved in multiple protest actions, some more successful than others. He was a prominent figure in the protest-cum-riot in January 2009, when protesters smashed up the Seimas’ exterior and destroyed a police car. He also organized the “onion rally” where he delivered a wheelbarrow of spray painted onions to the Seimas to give to every parliamentarian as a reward for their poor behavior. However, his promise in early 2009 for a wave of protests coordinated by Frontas turned out to be empty, and the party remains on the margins of the Lithuanian political scene advocating for increased isolationism and ramped-up state control of the economy.

Paleckis points out that building a grassroots movement takes time.

“We expect the result of that to be maybe, in some years, so that we can teach people how to be civilly active and not passive, not to emigrate but to fight for their rights here,” Paleckis told Baltic Reports in past interviews. “Next year, two years, three years, four years.”

— Baltic Reports editor Nathan Greenhalgh contributed to this article. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]Soviet occupation and other public actions, was on his way to Tallinn to protest in a picket outside the NATO meeting on Estonia’s forces in Afganistan.

“They did not let us in, because we are in a persona non grata list. The border guard said something about wrong views,” Paleckis told the Baltic News Service.

The picket on Wednesday, which the police did not give permission for, drew a host of protesters from the region. The newspaper Lietuvos Rytas reported that other protesters from Russia had also been blocked at the border for the same reason.

The protesters say that since international forces entered Afghanistan that the drug export trade there has bloomed. Indeed, Russia — the world’s most heroin-addicted country — is estimated to have over 300,000 heroin addicts with 40,000 of them dying each year from the habit. Much of the drugs originate from Afghanistan where opium growers are given free reign to grow the narcotic.

In Lithuania, Paleckis has been involved in multiple protest actions, some more successful than others. He was a prominent figure in the protest-cum-riot in January 2009, when protesters smashed up the Seimas’ exterior and destroyed a police car. He also organized the “onion rally” where he delivered a wheelbarrow of spray painted onions to the Seimas to give to every parliamentarian as a reward for their poor behavior. However, his promise in early 2009 for a wave of protests coordinated by Frontas turned out to be empty, and the party remains on the margins of the Lithuanian political scene advocating for increased isolationism and ramped-up state control of the economy.

Paleckis points out that building a grassroots movement takes time.

“We expect the result of that to be maybe, in some years, so that we can teach people how to be civilly active and not passive, not to emigrate but to fight for their rights here,” Paleckis told Baltic Reports in past interviews. “Next year, two years, three years, four years.”

— Baltic Reports editor Nathan Greenhalgh contributed to this article. [/private_subscription 1 year]

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