"In the opinion of the Ministry of Justice, the wording is too general. The key issue, which led to the need to raise the referendum issue, is the opportunity for Lithuanians living abroad to have dual citizenship. At the moment, the proposed wording expands their circle. The opportunity of gaining dual citizenship is inseparable from the fact that a person needs to be of Lithuanian origin," Julius Pagojus, an adviser to Justice Minister Juozas Bernatonis, told the Seimas Constitutional Commission on Wednesday.
The Seimas has already given its initial backing to a draft resolution on holding a referendum on amending the country's Constitution to allow dual citizenship. The proposed wording is as follows "I agree to the wording of Article 12 of the Constitution of Lithuania to be as follows: "a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania can be a citizen of another state too."
"Our proposal is to modify the wording in the way to allow the right to have dual citizenship only to Lithuanians by origin," the adviser said.
The Constitution of Lithuania currently says that "with the exception of individual cases provided for by law, no one may be a citizen of both the Republic of Lithuania and another state at the same time." Such an article is part of Chapter 1 which can be amended by referendum only and more than a half of voters have to vote in favor.
Under the existing Law on Citizenship, dual citizenship is allowed to those who fled Lithuania before it regained independence in 1990. Those who have dual citizenship from birth have to pick one of the two citizenships after turning 18.
The Seimas is already considering a proposal to hold a referendum on dual citizenship alongside presidential elections in 2014.
