This paper focusses on the dual citizenship policy discourses of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. While the citizenship policies of the Baltic States have received a prominent amount of international political as well as academic attention in relation to its ’immigrant’ population from the Soviet period, their citizenship policies in relation to their emigrant population have received considerably less attention. Yet, all three states have a considerable historical diaspora and are also the largest net emigration countries per capita in the EU. By making use of the Baltic News Services archives, the paper investigates the policy debate in the three countries comparatively, assessing the arguments and key events that have shaped the debates since regaining independence, and compares these to the debates over granting citizenship to its denizens who had migrated to the Baltic States during the Soviet era.
