Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Kubilius said he had always been in support of better chances for emigrants to keep their Lithuanian citizenship after acquiring foreign citizenship. However, he dismisses as too general the proposed amendment to the Constitution that “a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania can also hold citizenship of another country."
"The proposed wording is entirely unsuitable and, at the same time, is discrediting to the perspective of the dual citizenship in Lithuania, as it would mean that many people in Lithuania would be citizens of, for example, the Republic of Lithuania and Russia or citizens of the Republic of Lithuania and the Republic of Poland. Such perspective is indeed not something we should aspire to, when we think about people of Lithuanian origin who have left Lithuania and live somewhere in America or Ireland and seek to keep their Lithuanian citizenship," Kubilius told journalists.
"Such wording of the initiative is reckless and can pose a number of possible threats, therefore, I would indeed urge to hold back the discussions before bringing representatives of all parties together for a consideration of such Constitutional amendment, which would be rational and free of potential threats," said the opposition leader, noting that the proposed provision was "too general."
A proposal to hold a referendum on dual citizenship in conjunction with the 2014 presidential elections should be submitted to the Lithuanian parliament on Tuesday.
