Other events in Baltic States

Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite has refused to grant citizenship to figure skating representative, USA national Isabella Tobias, informs LETA/ELTA.

Tobias (21) needed a Lithuanian passport to be able to represent Lithuania in winter Olympic Games with Lithuanian ice skater Deividas Stagniunas (27).

"Head of the state made this decision in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, rulings of the Constitutional Court, the Law on Citizenship and a proposal by the Citizenship Commission," a statement by the presidential press service reads.

In 2006, the Constitutional Court ruled that future merits cannot become the basis of granting citizenship of Lithuania.

Under the Lithuanian Law of Citizenship, Lithuanian citizenship can be granted to foreign nationals only if they have indisputable merits to Lithuania, are integrated into Lithuania's society and are related to Lithuania by factual links.