When Russia invaded Ukraine, glorification of the Russian regime and the war became a reason to lose Lithuanian citizenship. But Ilze Liepa, a famous Russian ballet dancer and a Lithuanian citizen, makes no secret of her admiration for Vladimir Putin.
“I’m very ashamed of them and very sad [...]. We understand that, unfortunately, people are being held hostage by a small group. We are extremely lucky to have a leader like Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, who serves his country and is faithful to his duty,” Liepa said in an interview with Russian media when asked about the demolition of Soviet monuments and the restriction of Russian culture in the Baltics.
Daughter of Māris Rūdolfs Liepa, the Soviet-era Latvian ballet dancer, was granted Lithuanian citizenship by exception in 2000. As the citizenship commission announced at the time, it was decided to grant citizenship to the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre soloist who danced with Lithuanian ballet dancer Petras Skirmantas for more than 10 years.
More than twenty years on, Liepa, still a Lithuanian citizen, calls Russia’s war in Ukraine “a special military operation” and admires the Russians who are taking part in it.
“All my friends are involved in the special military operation; everyone’s thoughts and souls are there. Everyone is doing what they can,” she said.
“I have no doubt about what our president is saying. One side says that the Kremlin has brainwashed us, but it’s everyone’s choice. It seems to me that we now understand exactly what it is – a clash of our fundamental values,” Liepa added.
In the interview, the ballerina thanked Putin and the Russian army “for allowing us to live, to make creative plans, to perform, to meet friends.”
Such behaviour is detrimental to Lithuania’s interests, according to Dainius Žalimas, Dean of the Faculty of Law at Vytautas Magnus University (VDU).
“This is indeed a behaviour that undermines the vital interests of the Republic of Lithuania because as a citizen of Lithuania, she essentially denies both Lithuania’s independence and glorifies the Soviet Union,” he said.
“This is legally qualified as participation in a disinformation campaign against the Republic of Lithuania by a hostile state, the Russian Federation,” the lawyer added.
Laurynas Kasčiūnas, chair of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence (NSGK), said that a person like the Russian ballet star cannot have Lithuanian citizenship. According to him, the Interior Ministry will have to assess Liepa’s statements.
“When you take the first step with regard to Drobiazko, there are some cases that are more terrible in their content,” Kasčiūnas said.
Russian ice dancer Margarita Drobiazko was stripped of her Lithuanian citizenship granted by way of exception in September, citing her public support for the Kremlin regime as a reason.
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“It was promised that now, we would check [persons with Lithuanian citizenship], but it is obvious that more than a year and a half since the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, nothing is happening,” Žalimas said.
The Interior Ministry said on Monday it has ordered the Migration Department to start the procedure for stripping Russian ballerina Liepa of Lithuanian citizenship.
“Ilze Liepa’s public statements are seen as discrediting the state,” the ministry said in a statement sent to BNS on Monday.
According to the Migration Department, it has already asked the competent authorities to assess Liepa’s statements.
“On Friday, the Migration Department sent inquiries to the country’s competent authorities, asking them to assess Ilze Liepa’s public statements,” the department told BNS on Monday.
If it is established that Liepa’s actions pose a threat to national security, the Migration Department will propose to the Interior Ministry to ask the president to strip her of Lithuanian citizenship.
According to the Law on Citizenship, a person is deprived of their Lithuanian citizenship acquired by way of exception if their actions threaten the security interests of Lithuania or if they publicly express their support for a state that threatens the security interests of Lithuania, other EU member states, or their allies.
LRT unsuccessfully tried to contact Liepa. Lithuanians who knew her said that they had cut off contact with the ballerina after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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