Three Lithuanian lawmakers have proposed amendments to the Law on Citizenship, which would allow stripping Russian-born ice skater Margarita Drobiazko of Lithuanian citizenship.
Drobiazko, who was granted Lithuanian citizenship in 1993 to represent the country in Olympic Games, and her partner Povilas Vanagas were recently stripped of state awards after appearing in a performance in Russia.
Read more: Lithuanian ice skating pair stripped of state award after appearing at Sochi show
The proposed bill stipulates that a citizen of another country who has been granted Lithuanian citizenship by way of exception would lose their Lithuanian passport if their actions threaten the security and interests of the Lithuanian state, if they support a state that threatens the security of Lithuania and other countries in the region, allies, or if they degrade the name of the State of Lithuania.
The bill was drafted by conservative MPs Dalia Asanavičiūtė, Stasys Šedbaras and Andrius Vyšniauskas.
They say the amendments were initiated “in view of the current situation involving the Russian war in Ukraine and the threat to Lithuania and the entire region”.
The current law, they insist, does not reflect the geopolitical situation.
“The law’s Article 24 provides for six reasons of losing citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania, but it does not provide for a mechanism to take away citizenship granted by way of exception, if the person is also a citizen of another state, if the person supports aggressor states and thus poses a threat to the security of Lithuania, the region and allies,” the bills’ explanatory note reads.
Drobiazko and Vanagas, who is also her spouse, took part in a performance in Sochi, Russia, organised by Tatyana Navka, the wife of the Russian president’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
As a result, on Wednesday, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda stripped them of the Lithuanian state awards they had previously received for their merits to Lithuania.
Drobiazko and Vanagas live in Russia.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
