Grybauskaite took into consideration that the ice dancers Isabella Tobias and Deividas Stagniunas of Lithuania had already won the right to participate in the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics in which they were to represent Lithuania.
Moreover, Lithuania's President decided to grant the citizenship to American ice skater taking into consideration that Tobias had been in couple with Stagniunas for 3 years and a half. She is learning the Lithuanian language and passed the Lithuanian language examination.
It is the first time Grybauskaite exceptionally grants the citizenship.
As reported, earlier Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite refused to grant citizenship to figure skating representative, USA national Tobias. 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.
