EU Data Put Lithuania First in Schengen Rejections for Türkiye

Bosphorus News Geopolitics Desk

European Commission data show Lithuania, not Malta, recorded the highest Schengen visa refusal rate for applications lodged in Türkiye in 2025, a detail missed in several Turkish media reports that placed Malta at the top of the list.

The Commission's 2025 consular statistics show Türkiye remained one of the world's largest sources of short stay Schengen visa demand. Applications lodged in Türkiye reached 1,268,376, placing the country second after China and ahead of India.

The refusal rate for applications lodged in Türkiye stood at about 14.6 percent, with 183,196 applications rejected. The figures underline the scale of Türkiye's Schengen bottleneck, but the country by country breakdown also shows wide differences between Schengen states.

Lithuania rejected 1,167 of 3,292 applications lodged in Türkiye, producing a refusal rate of about 35.4 percent. Malta followed closely, rejecting 2,811 of 8,068 applications, or about 34.8 percent.

Estonia also posted a high refusal rate, rejecting 915 of 2,995 applications, about 30.6 percent. Poland rejected 2,148 of 7,341 applications, roughly 29.3 percent, while Sweden rejected 5,742 of 21,661 applications, about 26.5 percent.

Greece, one of the main Schengen destinations for Turkish applicants, recorded a much lower refusal rate, rejecting 33,420 of 310,920 applications lodged in Türkiye, or about 10.8 percent.

Norway, Croatia, Finland, Germany and Denmark also appeared among the higher refusal rate countries. Germany rejected 46,008 of 217,627 applications lodged in Türkiye, giving it a refusal rate of about 21.1 percent. Denmark rejected 8,491 of 44,253 applications, about 19.2 percent.

Several Turkish media reports highlighted Malta as the Schengen country with the highest refusal rate for applicants in Türkiye. That ranking appears to exclude some smaller volume consulates or rely on a filtered list, but the filter was not clearly stated. When all Schengen states in the Commission's consular data are included, Lithuania ranks first.

The distinction matters because Malta still recorded one of the highest refusal rates, but it was not the top country in the full Commission table. A narrow difference between Lithuania and Malta changes the ranking, while the omission of Lithuania, Estonia and Croatia gives readers an incomplete view of the data.

The broader picture remains larger than the ranking dispute. Türkiye generated one of the world's biggest Schengen visa caseloads in 2025, and applicants faced sharply different outcomes depending on the Schengen state processing their file.

The data also show that the Schengen issue is not only about total rejections. It is about demand, consular capacity, country by country practices, multiple entry visa policies and the widening public perception in Türkiye that access to Europe has become less predictable.

***Sources: European Commission 2025 visa statistics for consulates, European Commission Schengen short stay visa data release.

Original data file: https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/document/download/56816949-e59f-442b-9091-5d03360bf860_en