The Seimas of Lithuania will on Tuesday start debating a bill, which would strip a person of their Lithuanian citizenship if they support “an aggressor”. It would only apply to people who received the Lithuanian passport through an exception, for example, athletes.
The bill’s authors say the current laws do not take into account citizens, who received the passport “by the way of exception” and “support aggressor states and thus pose a threat to the security of Lithuania, the region and allies”.
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 bill’s explanatory note said.
The proposal follows an earlier controversy when Margarita Drobiazko, a Russia-born ice dancer who was granted Lithuanian citizenship, and her Lithuanian husband Povilas Vanagas took part in a performance in Sochi, Russia. The event was organised by Tatyana Navka, the wife of Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's spokesperson.
Following the pair's performance, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda stripped them of the Lithuanian state awards they had previously received for their achievements.
Read more: Lithuanian ice skating pair stripped of state award after appearing at Sochi show
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
