The European Network on Statelessness is the collaboration of non-governmental organisations, academic initiatives, and individual experts committed to addressing statelessness in Europe. As well as conducting and supporting legal and policy development, awareness-raising and capacity building activities, the Network also hosts a weekly blog dedicated to useful, insightful and interesting updates on issues related to nationality law and citizenship.
In this blog, I explore the role of political will (or lack of) from states when it comes to eradicating, minimising and preventing statelessness. One way to communicate the huge impact that a state can have on statelessness within its own borders is to compare two states which share a similar history but which, when it comes to citizenship rights, have taken divergent paths. As neighbours and as part of the Former Soviet Union, Lithuania and Latvia have much in common in their shared history. But after independence from the Soviet Union, only one of those countries chose to use its nationality laws to prevent the unnecessary creation of stateless persons within its borders.
The contrasting approach to naturalisation and citizenship taken by Lithuania and Latvia following the break-up of the Soviet Union shows that a shared history does not necessarily result in the same outcomes. In my guest blog, I argue that it is not too late for Latvia to emulate its Baltic neighbour and make the right choices to end the cycle of statelessness within its borders.
Have a read of my blog post and let me know what you think. And don’t forget to sign up for the European Network on Statelessness newsletter, it’s a fantastic resource written by top experts in the field.
