Ballerina Ilze Liepa will be deprived of Lithuanian citizenship

The Lithuanian Ministry of Internal Affairs ordered the Migration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to begin the procedure for depriving the ballerina and actress Ilze Liepa of Lithuanian citizenship. about this BNS writes , citing a message from the department.

“Ilze Liepa’s public statements are considered discrediting the state,” it says. Reportedly, the migration department has already contacted the competent authorities with a request to evaluate Ilze Liepa’s statements about the war in Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

LRT notes that Lithuanian legislation provides that a person who has acquired citizenship by exception, like Ilze Liepa, may be deprived of it if his actions threaten the security interests of Lithuania or publicly supports a state that threatens the security of Lithuania, as well as other EU countries and their allies.

Earlier, called the head of the parliamentary committee on national security and defense, Laurynas Kasciunas, for depriving Ilze Liepa of Lithuanian citizenship. The reason was an interview with Liepa, which she gave in November 2022. In it, she stated that she was “very ashamed” of the actions of the Baltic states, while she supported Vladimir Putin and the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ilze Liepa received Lithuanian citizenship in 2000 after performing with Lithuanian ballet dancer Petras Skirmantas for more than ten years.

In September, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda reported that the authorities would deprive Lithuania’s most titled figure skater, Margarita Drobiazko, of her citizenship. The Citizenship Commission considered that Drobyazko “publicly expresses support for Russia,” which is “hostile to Lithuania, the countries of the European Union and their allies.”

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