The Minister of Interior of Lithuania, Agnė Bilotaitė, has said that everyone who threatens the security of the country will be stripped of citizenship.
According to Minister Bilotaitė, those who were granted citizenship under the exemption rules will also be stripped of citizenship when their actions threaten the interests of Lithuania or the EU in any way.
“Citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania is granted exceptionally for special merits. If a citizen who has received it threatens the security interests of the Republic of Lithuania by their actions publicly expresses support for a state that threatens the interests of Lithuania, the European Union states, or its allies, the process of losing citizenship must proceed smoothly and clearly,” the statement of Minister Bilotaitė reads.
Such a statement from Minister Bilotaitė was made after the government approved amendments to the resolution on the “Implementation of the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania”.
According to the Lithuanian Ministry of Interior, the law “clearly determines the procedure and deadlines for the preparation of documents regarding the loss of citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania granted by the exemption procedure”, which means that the authorities will take measures as needed.
As the Ministry explains, once the authorities have all the necessary information about a person who has gained citizenship through the exemption procedure and who threatens the security interest of Lithuania, they will initiate the process of stripping them of citizenship.
The Migration Department is required to prepare all the documents. These documents are obtained from the Department of State Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then the Migration Department has to prepare the whole case within a month at the latest.
The prepared documents are then sent to the Minister of Internal Affairs, which applies to the government within a ten working day period for the adoption of a decision on the loss of citizenship granted by exception.
“The draft amendment to the resolution also establishes the procedure for verifying the authenticity and integrity of documents issued in a foreign country, which the Migration Department will have to carry out,” the Ministry further emphasised.
In addition to the above-mentioned, the Ministry revealed that the country has also simplified the rules for the approval of documents.
In line with the new rules, when the application is completed, the applicant is required to go to the Migration Department within four months to submit the original documents. If the deadline is not met, the citizenship application is considered invalid.
