Good practices in nationality laws for the prevention of childhood statelessness children born in Lithuania and analysed all known statelessness cases.85 The 2020 amendments enact automatic acquisition of Lithuanian citizenship at birth by children who were previously ineligible (i.e., children born to stateless parents who held temporary residence permits in Lithuania). The 2020 amendments also eliminate certain criteria for other children born stateless in Lithuania to acquire Lithuanian citizenship through an application procedure (i.e., removing requirements relating to language and knowledge of the Constitution, as well as an income requirement).86 The impact of safeguards against childhood statelessness Lithuania’s approach to nationality, known in Lithuania as the ‘zero option’, granted citizenship to all permanent residents at the time of independence, regardless of their ethnic background or previous citizenship status. This policy resulted in a much smaller stateless population than in many other countries that were also previously part of the Soviet Union.87 Montenegro Population overview Statelessness, or lack of proof of nationality, affects mostly Roma and Egyptian communities in Montenegro and is linked to the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia and gaps in civil registration procedures and nationality laws. UNHCR data indicates a recorded 423 stateless people in Montenegro in 2024.88 Of this number, 55 per cent are children. Measures to reduce statelessness Citizenship legislation in Montenegro is generally based on the jus sanguinis principle, i.e., automatic acquisition of Montenegrin citizenship on the basis of being born to a citizen of Montenegro. The Law on Montenegrin Citizenship also provides additional possibilities for acquiring citizenship if specific conditions are fulfilled — by birth on the 85 86 87 88 38 Lithuania Fact Sheet. Available, UNHCR, February 2021. Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Citizenship, Republic of Lithuania, No XI-1196 with amendments, adopted 10 December 2020, [in Lithuanian]; see also Observations on the proposal for a Draft Law amending the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Citizenship (Reg. No 20-6597), UNHCR, May 2020; and see Campaign Update, January 2021–March 2021, UNHCR, 15 April 2021 , p. 7. UNHCR, Mapping Statelessness in Lithuania; see also ENS/Venkov, Not just a simple twist of fate: statelessness in Lithuania and Latvia; and ENS, “Non-Citizens” of the Baltics. UNHCR’s Refugee Data Finder.