Allison Reed, a US-born ice dancer who is applying for Lithuanian citizenship, said on Monday that her meeting with President Gitanas Nausėda “went very well”, adding that she expects “an official positive answer”.
“I’m grateful that the president wanted to talk to me. It’s been a long journey to this moment, but now I’m very happy. I think it went very well,” Reed told reporters at the Presidential Palace.
“He said that a lot of our recent accomplishments and our support of Lithuania on the international stage has definitely greatly changed his mind compared to the past few times that we have applied,” the ice dancer said.
“I’m looking forward to an official positive answer, but I will wait to say that until he comes out and says it himself,” she added.
In October, the Citizenship Commission recommended granting Reed citizenship by way of exception for her merits to Lithuania.
Under the law, the president can grant Lithuanian citizenship by way of exception to foreign nationals or stateless persons who can show outstanding merits to Lithuania and integration into the Lithuanian society.
The law defines outstanding merits as “any activities of a foreign citizen or a stateless person, which significantly contribute to the consolidation of the statehood of the Republic of Lithuania, as well as to the strengthening of its power and authority in the international community”.
Nausėda has twice – in 2022 and 2023 – rejected Reed’s application for citizenship, saying that she failed to prove her outstanding merits to Lithuania.
However, the president said he would consider a new citizenship application “with a different mood” after Reed won a bronze medal at this year’s European Figure Skating Championships with her Lithuanian dance partner Saulius Ambrulevičius.
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