The bill stipulates that a citizen of another country who has been granted Lithuanian citizenship by way of exception would lose their Lithuanian passport if their actions threaten the security and interests of the State of Lithuania, if they support a state that threatens the security of Lithuania and other countries in the region, allies, or if they degrade the name of the State of Lithuania.
The bill was drafted by MPs Dalia Asanaviciute, Stasys Sedbaras and Andrius Vysniauskas.
The bill's authors say the amendments were initiated "in view of the current situation involving the Russian war in Ukraine and the threat to Lithuania and the entire region".
According to the Conservative MPs, the existing legal norm defining the grounds for losing citizenship does not reflect the geopolitical situation.
"The law's Article 24 provides for six cases of losing citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania, but it does not provide for a case that would create a mechanism for the loss of citizenship granted by way of exception, if the person is also a citizen of another state, if the person supports aggressor states and thus poses a threat to the security of Lithuania, the region and allies," the bills' explanatory note reads.
The need to amend the Law on Citizenship emerged after Margarita Drobiazko, a Russia-born ice dancer who was granted Lithuanian citizenship by means of exception, and her Lithuanian husband Povilas Vanagas took part in a performance in Sochi, Russia, organized by Tatyana Navka, the wife of Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian president.
Following the performance, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda stripped them of the Lithuanian state awards they had previously received for their merits to Lithuania.
Drobiazko and Vanagas live in Russia.