Russian-born ice dancer is to be stripped of her EU citizenship

Margarita Drobiazko ‘discredited the name of Lithuania’ by attending an event in Sochi, that nation's interior ministry has said

Lithuanian lawmakers have set in motion a process to revoke the citizenship of the Moscow-born ice dancer Margarita Drobiazko, due to her participation in an event in Russia last year. Officials also cited her ties to prominent Russian figures as a reason for the move.

“After evaluating all the factors, we submit an appeal to the President of the Republic of Lithuania … whether the motives [to revoke Drobiazko’s citizenship] are justified or not,” deputy minister of Internal Affairs Arnoldas Abramavicius said at a press conference on Friday, according to local media.

The deputy minister noted that there are no “accusations” that Drobiazko is “some kind of terrorist” but said that “support to the aggressor state can be both moral and financial.”

Abramavicius claimed that Drobiazko’s participation in ice dancing events in Russia “provides financial support to the [Russian] regime.”

In August 2022 Drobiazko and her husband, Lithuanian national Povilas Vanagas, participated in an event in the Russian city of Sochi. Soon afterwards, the Baltic country’s president Gitanas Nauseda called the couples’ attendance “cynical” and added that the decision to grant Drobiazko Lithuanian citizenship in 1993 now “looks like a miserable farce.”

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Both Drobiazko and her husband currently reside in Moscow, Radio Free Europe reported last month. Minister Abramavicius added in his comments to the press on Friday that the couple have not been present in Lithuania for some time.

The competition in Sochi was organized by Tatyana Navka, the wife of Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. In the days after the launch of Moscow’s offensive on Kiev last year, several prominent Russian political figures were hit with European Union (EU) sanctions, Peskov included.

The proposal to strip Drobiazko of her Lithuanian citizenship follows the introduction earlier this year of a law that permits the revocation of passports granted to people for outstanding contributions to sports or culture, if they are later considered a threat to the Baltic nation’s national security interests. The final decision will fall to the office of president Nauseda.

In his comments on Friday, internal affairs minister Abramavicius also stated that Lithuanian citizens such as Drobiazko are “expected to respect the independence of the state and its territorial integrity” but added that, by cooperating with a “hostile regime,” the ice dancer “discredits the name of Lithuania.”

Drobiazko, 51, formally retired from ice dancing in 2006. She is the 2000 World bronze medalist and is a veteran of five Olympic Games.

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