The Lithuanian Ministry of Internal Affairs rejects criticism of the proactive actions of institutions, destroying Lithuanian citizenships

 "The Ministry of the Interior (MIA) rejects the criticism of the Minister of Economy and Innovation, Aušrinė Armonaitė, that Lithuanian citizenships are revoked from Lithuanians living abroad by proactive actions of the institutions. As the ministry informed in a comment submitted to BNS, Lithuanian citizens lose their citizenship by renouncing it themselves or by reporting the acquired citizenship of another state, also - when the authorities of other states report it. "In such a case, there is no other way out than to initiate the procedure of loss of citizenship. (...) It should be noted that the Lithuanian authorities do not proactively carry out inspections in order to deprive persons of the Republic of Lithuania citizenship", stated the Ministry of the Interior.

 

      "According to Minister Agnė Bilotaitė, decisions on loss of citizenship are painful, but we live in a legal state. If the referendum on the preservation of citizenship fails, the Ministry of the Interior is ready to look for alternative solutions," the ministry added. She presented such a position after A. Armonaitė called on the institutions to apply a moratorium on "proactive actions in recalling Lithuanian passports from Lithuanians living abroad and other Lithuanians" who have acquired the citizenship of a state friendly to Lithuania.

 

     When asked how it will react to A. Armonaitė's initiative, the Migration Department told BNS that it is a law-enforcement institution that will perform its functions in accordance with the current legislation. "In carrying out its functions and having identified a violation of the law, the Migration Department must initiate the established procedures to eliminate the violation," the department noted.

 

     According to department's knowledge, the majority of citizenship loss procedures are initiated by citizens. According to the Ministry of the Interior, in 2023, 84 persons renounced their Lithuanian citizenship, 995 lost it after acquiring the citizenship of another state. Accordingly, in 2022 these numbers reached 132 and 841, in 2021 - 38 and 1000, in 2020 - 16 and 1252.

 

     This week, the representatives of various factions of the Seimas, Dalia Henke, the chairperson of the World Lithuanian Community, expressed their support for the temporary suspension of the revocation of Lithuanian citizenship. According to them, the moratorium could last until a solution is found to solve the issue of expanding dual citizenship."