A group of Lithuanian MPs have proposed allowing the country’s nationals to hold a passport of another country, as long as it isn’t Russia or other blacklisted states. LRT.lt reports that they also propose holding a referendum on the issue. The last public vote on dual nationalities failed in 2019 after failing to secure enough support.
Under the new proposal, a Lithuanian citizen could acquire a second passport as long as the other country was part of the European Union, the European Economic Area, NATO and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
According to MP Dalia Asanavičiūtė, who chairs the working group, a Lithuanian national would be banned from acquiring a Belarusian or Russian citizenship, or that of countries from the Eurasian Economic Union Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and members of other political, economic and other unions or commonwealths of states created by the former USSR.
A Lithuanian citizen could also be a national of any other state, if they meet at least one of the following conditions: having been exiled from occupied Lithuania before March 11, 1990, having left before that date, or having married a citizen of another state. Children who have acquired dual citizenship, if the second is that of a state on the prohibited list, would be required to choose their preferred citizenship within three years after reaching the age of 24.
People who emigrated from Lithuania after it restored independence on March 11, 1990, are currently not eligible for dual citizenship, with some exceptions. Previously, Lithuania’s Constitutional Court ruled that only a referendum could allow the government to amend the constitution to include a dual citizenship clause.
