Legislation, Lithuania

Regina Narusiene and President Dalia Grybauskaite.

"We maintain the position that people of Lithuanian origin, who were born in Lithuania and have Lithuanian citizenship, have an innate right. And Lithuania cannot deprive them of this right. This is guaranteed by the Constitution, but somehow the lawyers did not take that into account. In our opinion, depriving those people, who left Lithuania after the year 1990, of Lithuanian citizenship and closing the doors for Lithuanian living abroad is against the interests of Lithuania," saif the chairman of the World Lithuanian Community.

Naruseviciene is convinced that Lithuanians living abroad should keep in touch with their motherland through Lithuanian citizenship. As reported, on June 4, the Seimas decided to allow more people to have dual citizenship. Under the amendment to the Law on Citizenship, those people who departed from Lithuania after March 11, 1990 – the restoration of Lithuanian independence – will be able to have a dual citizenship, if they are of Lithuanian origin and if they have a citizenship of the European Union or North Atlantic Treaty Organizations country and live in a country that is separated from the Republic of Lithuania by a state border, informs LETA/ELTA.