Talk:Vladimir Romanov

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[edit] Lithuanian?

Vladimir Romanov is ethnically Russian, that is clear. What isn't clear is why he is called "Lithuanian" so often. He is constantly called Lithuanian, but one [BBC] source says he was actually born in Russia. To quote the man himself, "in Russia, we have a saying that a man that's beaten by life is worth two that are unbeaten: which means that someone who has made a mistake is capable of becoming a better man." SOURCE So he's an ethnic Russian, born in Russia, who thinks of himself as Russian. Where does Lithuanian come from then? Chick Young interviewed the Mr Romanov, who spoke to him in Russian, and quoted Pushkin at him. But BBC Scotland's reporters thought the language was Lithuanian. That's the kind of ignorance we've got; is this the cause of the notion, or is he actually Lithuanian in some meaningful way? - Calgacus 17:29, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

He has a citizenship of Lithuania and this is his sole citizenship; he does not have the citizenship of the Russian Federation. As in Lithuania all citizens, regardless of their actual ethnicity, are considered Lithuanians (similarly as e.g. in USA every citizen is American regardless of his origin), sometimes the foreign newspeople makes that mistake and assumes that he is as well ethnic Lithuanian, while he indeed is ethnic Russian. Many people of the nationalities inhabitting the former Soviet Union, including many Russians, has Lithuanian citizenship: this is because when Lithuania declared independence it decided to give Lithuanian citizenship to everyone who lived in Lithuania at the time and wanted its citizenship, regardless of place of origin, ethnicity or languages spoken (the situation is different in Latvia and Estonia, which did not gave citizenships to those that did not spoke Latvian or Estonian languages respectively, thus many Russians who lives there doesn't has citizenship at all or are citizens of Russian Federation).