Representative of the Lithuanian World Community (LWC) Regina Narušienė says that Lithuanians who left the country after Lithuania restored its independence and who went on to become citizens of another state should be able to retain Lithuanian citizenship as well. “The LWC position is that it is possible to preserve the citizenship of people of Lithuanian descent. We are not talking about dual citizenship; we are talking about the retention of citizenship,” she said during a press conference in the Lithuanian Parliament. And she asserted that this would require only a minor change to the currently valid citizenship law, explaining, “Only certain additions need to be made to the existing law so that we can include those who left after the restoration of independence. These additions should include individual cases. (...).”
Ms. Narušienė summed up her position, “(...) It is time for Lithuania to take into account what is happening around the world. Latvia, after much deliberation, found a way to hold on to its diaspora. Most European Union countries allow their people to retain their citizenship. (...) It is time to live in the present, not in the past and not with the mentality of the occupation period”.
According to Lithuanian American Arūnas Pemkus, holding citizenship solidifies a person’s obligation to the state, so by allowing the retention of citizenship to those who emigrated, Lithuania could benefit from it. He explained, saying, “Citizenship also means responsibilities. Every citizen takes them. The responsibilities may include military service, if it is mandatory, and tax declarations. All of these things are defined by law”.
Representatives of the Lithuanian World Community think that a more liberal citizenship law might help to combat Lithuania’s acute problem -- the decline in the number of citizens.
According to Arūnas Pemkus, about 750 thousand people have left Lithuania over the past 20 years.
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