Conservatives and Liberals in Lithuanian Parlament, Seimas, Propose Temporary Suspension of Procedures for Loss of Lithuanian Citizenship

 

 

"Some Seimas Conservatives and Liberals propose to complicate the procedure for loss of Lithuanian citizenship and declare a five-year moratorium on such procedures.

 

It is proposed that the moratorium be applied to procedures for loss of citizenship for five years, leaving the possibility of organizing a procedure if a person has acquired the citizenship of a state hostile to us.

 

After the moratorium period expires, it is proposed to complicate the procedure for loss of citizenship and assess whether the loss of citizenship of a specific citizen would harm the interests of the state.

 

"Now people can lose Lithuanian citizenship simply "in the blink of an eye". Therefore, I believe that a five-year moratorium on procedures for the loss of Lithuanian citizenship, followed by a complication of the procedure, is an adequate measure in the current geopolitical situation,” says Dalia Asanavičiūtė, a conservative who initiated the amendments to the law.

 

Similar proposals by D. Asanavičiūtė to change the procedure for the loss of citizenship were made last summer.

 

At that time, the parliamentarian who registered the amendments to the Law on Citizenship proposed that the administrative court of first instance, upon receiving a request from a citizen, the president, the minister of the interior or authorized government institutions, would decide on the consequences of the loss of citizenship for the person and the interests of the state. This court would also resolve disputes regarding decisions made by institutions on citizenship issues.

 

The draft also proposed that the decree on loss of citizenship would be signed not only by the Minister of Internal Affairs, as is the case now, but also by the President of Lithuania upon the recommendation of the Citizenship Commission. The head of state would also be granted the exclusive right not to sign the decree on loss of citizenship if the consequences for the citizen or the interests of the state were assessed as negative.

 

At that time, D. Asanavičiūtė proposed establishing an obligation for persons who have acquired the citizenship of another state to notify Lithuanian institutions about this when the document confirming the person's citizenship expires.

 

ELTA reminds that the referendum held in early May last year on the amendment to the Constitution, which sought to expand the possibility of dual citizenship, was not successful.

 

According to the CEC, 1 million 413 thousand 288 voters participated in the referendum or 58.96 percent. The amendment to the Constitution on the preservation of citizenship was approved by 1 million 26 thousand. 408 voters (74.13 percent), but this number of votes was not enough to pass the amendment.

 

In order for the amendment to the Constitution to be passed, at least half of the population with the right to vote must vote for it.”