"The Seimas took up the initiative to find a complex balance between two constitutional values – the protection of the state language's uniqueness and human rights like a person's right to respect for private and family life, the right to move freely, the protection of the right of a person belonging to an ethnic minority to have their name and surname spelt in a more acceptable way defined by law," the president said in a statement issued on Tuesday by his press service.
"I hope that during the adoption of its implementing legislation, the constitutional status of the state language and proper respect for the Lithuanian language system and uniqueness will be ensured," Nauseda said.
Earlier this month, the Lithuanian parliament allowed the original spelling of non-Lithuanian names in Latin-based characters in personal documents.
The bill allows using the letters "q", "x" and "w", which do not exist in the Lithuanian alphabet, to spell the names of Lithuanian citizens if they assume their spouses' non-Lithuanian surnames.
This will also apply if the surname of a Lithuanian citizen's parents or one of their parents is spelled in non-Lithuanian characters in the source document, and if a citizen's parents, grandparents or ancestors had or have the citizenship of another country and their first and last names were spelled in non-Lithuanian characters in the source document.
The original spelling of names in Latin-based characters without diacritical marks will also be allowed if a Lithuanian citizen acquired their first and last names in the foreign country where they reside and the names are spelled in these characters in the source document.