Lithuania has simplified the rules for citizens serving in foreign armies — LRT
On Wednesday, the Lithuanian government endorsed an initiative to streamline the procedure allowing Lithuanian citizens to perform civilian or military service abroad.
This was reported by LRT.
"It is important for the state to know in which other countries Lithuanian citizens are serving and what positions they hold. Therefore, all citizens are required to obtain permission. This ensures the achievement of the state’s goals: to know where its citizens are serving and to prevent threats in advance," the explanatory note to the draft states.
According to the proposal, the Minister of the Interior will issue permits when a Lithuanian citizen intends to serve as a politician, government official, or in other positions related to the judiciary, public administration, or statutory service in foreign institutions where foreign citizenship or an oath of allegiance is required.
The Minister of Defense will decide on permits for Lithuanian citizens who wish to enter military service in another country that requires citizenship or an oath of allegiance.
The same procedure will apply to military service.
The Ministry of the Interior cited the French Foreign Legion as an example, where citizenship or an oath of allegiance is not required for service; in such cases, Lithuanian citizens will not need a permit.
Permission will be denied if the service poses a threat to Lithuania’s security, conflicts with national or foreign policy interests, or if the individual has not completed mandatory military service.
The law also stipulates that Lithuanian citizenship may be revoked not only for current service without a permit, but also for such actions in the past.
Currently, permits are issued by the government. Since the beginning of this year, more than 20 Lithuanian citizens have received permission to serve in the armed forces of various European and other countries.
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