According to Pranckietis, one of possible options would be to remove the provision that allows dual citizenship only for people who left the country before it regained independence in 1990, instead of adding a provision that Lithuanian citizens who left for EU or NATO countries at any time are entitled to dual citizenship.
“The bill will be submitted and debated, but the wording remains open to discussion. The existing law sets the date. Perhaps we could avoid that date somehow. Then there would be no need for that new wording, which can indeed restrict the right of Lithuanian citizens living in Australia or Ukraine to keep their citizenship,” he told reporters.
Over 100 members of the Seimas have tabled a bill to allow Lithuanians to keep their Lithuanian passports when they acquire citizenship of another EU or NATO country.
Pranckietis on Wednesday discuss the issue of dual citizenship with President Dalia Grybauskaitė, who said earlier this month that the bill ran counter to the Constitution.
According to the speaker, the president did not ask him to not submit the bill to the Seimas for approval. What she asked was to “treat the Constitution with respect”, he said.
The current law only allows dual citizenship for Lithuanian citizens who left Lithuania before the country regained independence in 1990 and their descendants, but those who emigrated after that date automatically lose their citizenship if they acquire the passport of another country. There are exceptions for children who become citizens of a foreign country at birth, as well as for people who automatically acquire citizenship of a foreign country by marrying a citizen of that country.
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