Lithuanian parliamentarians have initiated the process of depriving the nationality of the figure skater Margarita Drobyazko, the bronze medalist of the 2000 World Championship, who continues to perform in Russia.
“We hoped that after the adoption of the law there would be no such precedents. Unfortunately, in the public space we see that cooperation with the mouthpieces of the Kremlin continues,” MP Dalia Asanaviciute said.
According to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the Saeima will most likely support the initiative:
“We are approaching the final stage on this issue. As far as I know, the initiative enjoys support and, most likely, will be approved.”
The reason why they want to deprive the skater of citizenship is cooperation with Tatyana Navka, the wife of Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of Vladimir Putin. Drobyazko and her husband Povilas Vanagas performed in Navka's performances Ruslan and Lyudmila and Sleeping Beauty.
In a conversation with Match TV, Drobiazko said that she was not worried about the initiative of the deputies of the Seimas of Lithuania to deprive her of the country's citizenship.
“I cannot influence such decisions. What can I do? It's their business. Basically, I'm fine with my life. I have no more comments."
Drobiazko was born in Moscow, but after the collapse of the USSR, she decided to represent Lithuania together with Povilas Vanagas – they are bronze medalists of the 2000 World Championship in ice dancing.
In the spring, the Seimas of Lithuania adopted amendments to the law on citizenship, which introduce a mechanism for depriving citizenship granted by way of exception. It was in this order that Drobyazko received the citizenship of the country in 1993 in order to compete at the Olympic Games.