The draft assumes that a Lithuanian citizen would not lose his citizenship after acquiring the citizenship of EU and NATO countries. On the other hand, choosing the citizenship of Russia or Belarus – it would no longer be possible to keep dual citizenship.
Conditions enshrined in the Constitution
The submitted draft proposes to remove from the Constitution the provision on the prohibition of dual citizenship and to insert a provision into the Basic Law that “citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania is acquired by birth and on other grounds in the manner specified in the Constitution”. According to the draft, all detailed conditions, procedures and other matters related to the acquisition and loss of dual citizenship would have to be written down in the Constitution.
The referendum would vote on an amendment to the Constitution.
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— According to the proposal, the referendum would vote on an amendment to the Constitution removing the ban on dual citizenship from the country’s constitution. The conditions for obtaining it and prohibitions would be specified in the Constitution. It is proposed to establish that a Lithuanian citizen does not lose his citizenship after acquiring citizenship of the European Union, European Economic Area, NATO and countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said Dalia Asanavičiūtė, chairwoman of the parliamentary working group, in an interview with “Kurier Vilnius”.
The establishment of dual citizenship is demanded mainly by those who left the country after regaining independence on 11 March 1990. The Constitutional Court explained that only a referendum amending the Constitution can open the possibility of having dual citizenship.
Read more: Politicians are announcing another referendum on dual citizenship
Restrictions on Dual Nationality
— The constitution would specify that restrictions on dual citizenship would be imposed on those who choose citizenship of countries that do not meet the criteria of European and Euro-Atlantic integration. They will be members of the allied states of Belarus and Russia, the organization of collective security treaties of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, other unions or communities of political, economic and other states created by the former USSR, Dalia Asanavičiūtė noted.
Failed referendum in 2019
A referendum on the legalization of dual citizenship was organized in 2019 simultaneously with the presidential election, but there were not enough votes to pass such a law.
— A referendum is needed because in order to amend a provision in the Constitution, it is required that more than half of those entitled to vote are in favor of it. It’s important to hear what our society has to say about this. Dual citizenship is a very important topic, especially today, when we have a lot of our citizens living abroad, where they start families with foreigners and face the choice of citizenship, stressed Dalia Asanavičiūtė.
Read more: Forecasts’2019: the most important political events in Lithuania
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