Dual Citizenship in the European Union: trends and analysis (2010-2020) Therefore, there is political support for the toleration of dual citizenship.60 A significant obstacle in this regard is a judgment of the Constitutional Court of Lithuania of 13 November 2003, which ruled that the general toleration of dual citizenship beyond individual and exceptional cases would violate Article 12 of the Lithuanian Constitution.61 In both 2008 and 2010, legislative proposals for general toleration of dual citizenship therefore were vetoed by the Lithuanian president on the ground that the proposals were not in line with the 2003 judgment of the Constitutional Court.62 On 1 April 2011, a new Lithuanian Law on Citizenship came into force that in principle still retained a restrictive stance on dual citizenship.63 Therefore, a Lithuanian citizen who acquires another citizenship will in principle automatically lose Lithuanian citizenship (Art. 26 par. 1 Lithuanian Law on Citizenship). Lithuanian citizens who acquired another citizenship before reaching the age of majority are required to renounce their other citizenship before reaching the age of 25 or will otherwise risk to be deprived of their Lithuanian citizenship (Art. 24 para. 8 Lithuania Law on Citizenship). Persons who wish to acquire Lithuanian citizenship by registration or by naturalisation are in principle required to renounce their original citizenship. However, the new law also provided a number of exemptions.64 Despite the abovementioned Constitutional Court ruling, these exemptions were gradually expanded between 2015 and 2018.65 Most importantly, a 2015 amendment exempts persons who acquired more than one citizenship by birth from the requirement to renounce their other citizenship, meaning that a majority of dual citizens by birth is able to retain both citizenships (Art. 7 para. 1 Lithuanian Law on Citizenship). In addition to that, Lithuanian exiles and their descendants as well persons with “special merits” are allowed to become dual citizens (Art. 7 paras. 2-4 jo. 89 Lithuanian Law on Citizenship). A constitutional referendum was held in 2019 on a proposal to amend Article 12 of the Lithuanian Constitution to more generally allow dual citizenship.66 The referendum was prompted by the prospect of Brexit, as many of the approximately 200,000 Lithuanians residing in the United Kingdom were set to lose Lithuanian citizenship once they would acquire British citizenship.67 Although a majority of 73% voted in approval of the proposal, the proposal was nevertheless not adopted as the majority that voted in approval represented only 34% of all eligible voters, whereas a minimum threshold of 50% was required for adopting a constitutional amendment.68 The Netherlands A 2010 amendment of the Netherlands Nationality Act constituted one of the rare cases that further restricted the approach towards dual citizenship. A requirement to renounce the original citizenship was introduced for two groups, namely persons who had resided in the Netherlands 60 Ibid., p. 31. Case No. 40/03, 45/03-36/04, Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, 30 December 2006. For an English summary of the judgment, see: <https://www.lrkt.lt/en/court-acts/search/170/ta911/summary>. 62 Kūris, E., op cit., p. 39 ff. 63 Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Lithuania, XI-1196, Official Gazette [Valstybės žinios], No. 144-7561, 9 December 2010. 64 Art. 7 Lithuanian Law on Citizenship 2010. 65 Law XII-2050, Official Gazette, No. 18859, 27 November 2015; Law XII-2210, Official Gazette, No. 364, 6 January 2016; Law XI-1196, Official Gazette, No. 18828, 5 July 2016; Law XIII-1538, Official Gazette, No. 17327, 30 October 2018. 66 ‘Lithuanian referendum on dual citizenship: a divisive issue’, Globalcit, 14 May 2019. 67 H. Wright, ‘Lithuanians to vote in referendum prompted by Brexit’, Politico, 8 May 2019. 68 ‘Lithuania's citizenship referendum fails to attract required votes’, LRT, 13 May 2019. 61 14 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-Comp. 2020/4 - © 2020 Author