“Citizenship was granted following existing laws. Yes, we have to check how correctly they were applied. And we have to examine if the individuals in question, for instance, were part of EU sanction implementation mechanism in terms of Russia and if they perhaps somehow hindered or otherwise contributed to hindering the implementation of sanctions,” Nausėda told reporters Thursday.
According to the president, if anything of the above is proved, then other options should be explored based on Lithuanian law.
Nevertheless, the head of state also said it “was not great” to keep amending laws by aiming them at specific cases and individuals. He cautioned that this should not become “mass practice”.
As reported, Cyprus Confidential leaks indicate that Arkadiy and Anna Abramovich had obtained Lithuanian citizenship. The Ministry of the Interior said it would introduced legislative amendments so that passports would not be issued as a possibility to avoid sanctions.
Minister of the Interior Agnė Bilotaitė on Thursday established a commission to examine how Lithuanian citizenship was restored to relatives of the Russian oligarch in 2011-2013. Abramovich’s paternal grandparents had lived in Tauragė, in western Lithuania.