Mandatory referendum on dual citizenship due to be held

Press release, 18 October 2018

The Seimas has adopted a Resolution (draft No. XIIIP-2565(2)) on holding a mandatory referendum to amend Article 12 of the Constitution that defines the acquisition of citizenship. A total of 66 MPs voted in favour of the Seimas resolution and four abstained.

In accordance with the Resolution, the mandatory referendum will take place on two days, namely, on 12 and 26 May 2019. The initiators of the draft propose a two-day referendum in view of the fact that amendments to the provisions of Chapter I of the Constitution require a very large turnout of more than half of the citizens who have the right to vote and are listed on the electoral rolls. In addition, it is precisely these days that the Presidential elections and elections to the European Parliament will be held in the country.

Article 12 of the Constitution currently defines the basic provisions for obtaining the citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania. So far, the citizenship of Lithuania is acquired at birth and on other grounds established by law, and, 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.

The mandatory referendum will put to vote the following proposed amendment to Article 12 of the Constitution: “Citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania shall be acquired at birth and on other grounds established by the constitutional law. Citizens of the Republic of Lithuania by origin, who have acquired the citizenship of another state chosen by the Republic of Lithuania and consistent with the criteria of European and transatlantic integration established under the constitutional law of the Republic of Lithuania, shall not lose the citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania. In other cases, a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania may not be a citizen of another state, except for the cases provided by the constitutional law. The procedure for the acquisition and loss of citizenship is established by the constitutional law.”

The Seimas working group on the referendum concerning dual citizenship decided to recommend to the Seimas to recognize member states of the EU, NATO, and OECD as countries that meet the European and transatlantic integration criteria.

The amendments to the Constitution, if adopted by referendum, will come into force on 1 January 2020.

Rimas Rudaitis, Chief Specialist, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 239 6132, e-mail: [email protected]