Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda signed a decree revoking the citizenship of figure skater Margarita Drobiazko, which she had been granted as an exception. Delfi reports this with reference to presidential adviser Rydas Jasyulenis.
“Yes, the president signed a decree today,” the adviser said.
At the end of July, Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite asked the president to deprive the skater of citizenship. The Ministry of Internal Affairs noted that Drobyazko, who lives in Russia, “publicly expresses support for the state that poses a threat to the security interests of Lithuania.” The department emphasized that when receiving citizenship, Drobyazko swore an oath to Lithuania.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs drew attention to the fact that Drobyazko participates in the ice shows of Tatyana Navka, the wife of Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov. According to the Lithuanian authorities, such events “contribute to the formation of the image of Russia as a great country that organizes exceptional events in the world.” This, in turn, helps “the development of the Russian Federation regime’s narrative about the "Russian world" and strengthening the powers of the regime of the Russian Federation.”
Russian Margarita Drobyazko received Lithuanian citizenship back in 1993 in order to represent this country at the Olympic Games along with Lithuanian Povilas Vanags. She was given a Lithuanian passport “for services in the field of sports.”
After Drobyazko and Vanags performed in Sochi in 2022, the President of Lithuania ordered to deprive them of all state awards. At the same time, as the migration department reported, the athletes never returned the awards: “This indicates Drobyazko’s complete disrespect for the institution of the President of Lithuania, and at the same time for the Lithuanian state as a whole.”
The figure skater herself commented on the initiative to deprive her of Lithuanian citizenship as follows: “Since 2007, we have been permanent participants in ice shows in Russia, in my historical homeland. Just like all these 17 years, today our activities did not and do not carry any political manifestos. And I don’t understand why today suddenly participation in the fairy tale “Scheherazade” is taking place. or "Sleeping Beauty" category 0+ began to pose a threat to the security of the Republic of Lithuania.”
