Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Ukrainian gov't: Crimeans may keep Ukrainian citizenship

This is a very smart move by Ukraine: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that all Ukrainian citizens in Crimea may keep their Ukrainian citizenship and their Ukrainian passports:
"So a Ukrainian citizen who receives a foreign nationality without applying for renunciation of citizenship of Ukraine or the loss of the citizenship of Ukraine can not be regarded as a legitimate reason for termination of the citizenship of Ukraine."
This leaves open the door for their reunification with Ukraine, or their "emigration" from Russian Crimea to the Ukrainian mainland. 

This also leaves open the possibility -- taking a page out of Russia's playbook -- at some point for Ukraine to assert the right to protect the safety of Ukrainian citizens in Crimea.

An interesting thing to watch: how many Crimeans will choose to revoke their Ukrainian citizenship? My prediction is that most Crimeans will keep their Ukrainian passports and hedge their bets.


Crimeans keep their Ukrainian citzenship
By Aleksandr Gundlah
March 19, 2014 | 15Minut

URL: http://15minut.org/article/krymchanam-sohranjat-ukrainskoe-grazhdanstvo-2014-03-19-22-45-04

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