The Ministry of National Defence (MND) proposes not to admit Lithuanian citizens with Russian, Belarusian or Chinese citizenship to the General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania.
This is provided for in the draft Government resolution submitted to the Ministry for coordination.
As the Ministry of the Interior told BNS, the amendment to the law also imposes an obligation on cadets to inform about their citizenship of another country.
"If it is determined that a cadet has the citizenship of a country included in the list of unfriendly states - Russia, Belarus, or China - he will be dismissed or expelled from the Lithuanian Military Academy," the response states.
This means that the person will not be able to complete their studies and become Lithuanian army officer.
According to the ministry, if a cadet is dismissed, he will not have to reimburse the costs of his education, but if he is expelled, he will have to.
In cases where a cadet enters the academy and his or her citizenship is later included in the list of unfriendly states, the cadet would be automatically dismissed from the academy.
"In another case, if a cadet had the citizenship of an unfriendly state before entering the academy, which was already included in the list by law, and concealed such a fact, he will be expelled from the academy and will have to pay," the Ministry of Defense indicates.
The draft resolution states that the amendments are proposed to ensure that citizenship of hostile states is not soldiers would not become potential targets of interest, recruitment, or other hostile intelligence activities by the intelligence and security services of such countries.
In January last year, the Government approved a list of countries where military personnel and officials are prohibited from traveling due to national security concerns. It includes three countries: Belarus, China, and Russia.
The Ministry of Defense has already proposed that Lithuanian citizens holding citizenship of the aforementioned countries not join the Riflemen's Union.
Author Paulius Perminas
