Lithuania banned Russian rapper Morgenshtern from entry for 10 years, accusing him of being a threat to national security, the government told local media on Thursday.

The 27-year-old Alisher Valeev, better known by his stage name, was scheduled to perform in Vilnius on Nov. 29.

The mayor of Vilnius, Valdas Benkunskas, asked the foreign ministry in October to add the artist to the country’s list of “undesirable persons.”

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Morgenshtern has performed in Vilnius twice, but Benkunskas accused him of supporting Vladimir Putin and not defining Crimea as Ukrainian.

“I cannot sit idly by and watch as an artist who cannot answer whose Crimea is, publicly expresses his respect for Putin, and who … was added to the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture’s list of persons posing a threat to national security, comes to Vilnius,” the mayor said.

Morgenshtern is known for controversial comments he has made in interviews throughout his career, that have also landed him in hot water with Russian authorities.

In 2020, Morgenshtern said Putin is a “tough guy,” but refused to assess his political record, merely stating that he didn’t trust the Russian president or any other politician.

In a 2021 interview with a Ukrainian journalist, Morgenshtern said he hadn’t known about the war in Donbas and had no interest in learning about it. “Crimea belongs to Crimeans,” the rapper said. 

In another interview the same year, he criticized Moscow for spending millions of rubles annually on the May 9 Victory Day celebrations. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Morgenshtern called for peace in March 2022 in a music video. 

Russian authorities have investigated him for drug trafficking, canceled his concerts and ultimately labeled him a “foreign agent.” He has since gone into exile.

Morgenshtern is on a European tour right now and is scheduled to perform Friday in Paris.

Giedrė Peseckyte contributed to this report.