Citizens of Ukraine will no longer be required to pass the theoretical and practical driving tests when changing their category A and B licenses in Lithuania, the Minister of the Interior of Lithuania, Agnė Bilotaitė, has announced.
In a statement issued by the Ministry of the Interior, the authority stated that such an agreement would enter into force in a few months after the legal procedures in both countries are completed, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
In this regard, Bilotaitė noted that Lithuania fully supports Ukraine and is also doing everything to ensure the most suitable service for Ukrainians staying in Lithuania.
She also held a joint meeting with Ukraine’s Interior Minister, Ihori Klymenko, in Brussels, where other relevant issues related to Russia’s war in Ukraine and further support were discussed.
Until now, the institutions of the internal affairs system of Lithuania have transferred a value of five million euros in weapons, fire-fighting equipment, protective clothing, and vehicles. In addition, last week, the State Border Service also delivered six cars to the border guard of Ukraine.
Moreover, the Ministry also revealed that it is expected that the support package of €1 million will arrive in Ukraine in June.
Since November last year, the two countries have allowed each other’s citizens to change their driver’s licenses without taking exams.
A meeting has also been held between the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Lithuania Sigita Ščajevienė and the delegation headed by the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Bogdan Drapyat, where it was discussed the further strengthening of cooperation and the digitalisation of services in the sector public.
Ukrainian Deputy Minister Drapyat also introduced the Diia mobile application operating in Ukraine, which stores officially recognised digital versions of personal documents, such as driver’s licenses, national identity cards and car registration documents.
Previously, the Norwegian authorities also made some updates regarding the driving license regulations, thus extending the period during which Ukrainian driving licenses are recognised in Norway up to three years.
At the time, the country’s government said that now all types of Ukrainian driving licenses are recognised in Norway, not just passenger cars.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, Norway has been one of the countries that have shown great support for Ukrainian refugees and want to give them predictability regarding their stay in Norway. In April 2022, the Norwegian government extended the period of driving permits for Ukrainian refugees from three months to one year.