Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė has appealed to President Gitanas Nausėda to take a decision on stripping Russian ice-dancer Margarita Drobiazko of Lithuanian citizenship granted by exception.
The Interior Ministry said on Friday that the minister had turned to the head of the state on the basis of the Law on Citizenship and in the light of the information provided by competent authorities. The final decision will be taken by the president.
According to the Migration Department, Drobiazko maintains close professional and personal ties with Tatyana Navka, the wife of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, and participates in performances organised by her.
Drobiazko has also not condemned or opposed Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, the Interior Ministry writes in a press release.
Russian-born Drobiazko was granted Lithuanian citizenship in 1993 so she could represent the country in international sporting events alongside her Lithuanian partner and husband Povilas Vanagas.
The pair represented Lithuania at five Olympic Games and ten international championships. In 2000, Drobiazko and Vanagas received a state award, the Order of the Grand Duke Gediminas of Lithuania, 5th degree. The award was taken away from them last August but they have not yet returned it.
“This shows Drobiazko’s utter disrespect for the institution of the President of Lithuania and for the Lithuanian state in general,” the Migration Department said.
Drobiazko and Vanagas received widespread condemnation in Lithuania for performing in Sochi last summer, in a show hosted by Navka.
Lithuanian MPs have asked the Interior Ministry to look into revoking Drobiazko’s citizenship under new legislative amendments passed in March.
The legislation allows taking away Lithuanian citizenship from naturalised dual citizens who received Lithuanian citizenship by way of exception if they “endanger through their actions the security interests of Lithuania or its allies and thus brings the country into disrepute”.
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