A. Bilotaitė formed a commission regarding the children of R. Abramovičius who have a Lithuanian passport

At that time, the Migration Department was tasked with reviewing the list of persons and entities subject to European Union sanctions and checking whether the family members of the sanctioned persons are not Lithuanian citizens.

“Granting citizenship cannot be a secret, and the Lithuanian passport is a cover for circumventing sanctions or otherwise abusing it. In this geopolitically complex period, the protection of personal data cannot be above the interests of national security”, A. Bilotaitė is quoted in the ministry’s statement.

Department confirmed on Wednesday that citizenship was granted to R. Abramovičius’ two children even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while R. Abramovičius himself does not have Lithuanian citizenship.

A. Bilotaitė also reported on the legal acts being prepared, which allow the cancellation of Lithuanian citizenship on the grounds of a threat to national security and those persons who obtained a passport on the basis of origin. Amendments to the law are currently being negotiated.

Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė said that if citizenship is acquired in order to circumvent international sanctions, its deprivation can be decided by changing the country’s laws. At that time, Speaker of the Seimas Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen said that she believes that the situation reveals the need to review the remaining gaps in the laws, which she hopes will be done.

This information was made public by the investigative journalism center “Siena”, which contributed to the International investigation, which announced that the children of R. Abramovičius, who have Lithuanian passports, Anna and Arkadijus, may have contributed to helping their father circumvent international sanctions.