Russia preparing legislation to simplify gaining dual citizenship

Legislation is being prepared by the Russian Federation Government to simplify dramatically the procedure for granting dual citizenship to foreigners, the kommersant.ru news site reported on Feb. 7, citing an anonymous source in a government working group to fulfill the concept of state migration policy. The legislation, “On Russian Federation citizenship,” is in its final stages and may be submitted to the Duma this month, said another source in the government. Its preparation began with the working group’s creation in March 2019 with a resolution by Russian President Putin.

The working group has the task of attracting to Russia as many new citizens as possible – from 5 to 10 million, the news site said, which is being resolved with changes in the migration regime and reforming the institution of citizenship,” “We want to close this issue in the spring session so that all those seeking can become Russian citizens. What will Russia do, accordingly? It will defend its citizens,” Russian State Duma Deputy Chairman Piotr Tolstoy told the news site.

The state migration policy concept, active until 2025, calls for “opening Russia to all those who want to live and work here and simplifying the rules for entry, including the issuance of visas, as well as the procedures for granting Russian citizenship,” the news site said. On Feb. 4, the Russian

State Duma approved in the first reading a bill that enables foreigners – who live in Russia and have grown, active Russian citizens as children – to gain citizenship by the simplified procedure.

Zenon Zawada: In terms of Russia’s geopolitical goals in Ukraine, this legislation is intended to open a new frontline in its hybrid war against the Ukrainian state. The fulfillment of the Minsk Accords would give the Kremlin a permanent anchor to intervene in Ukrainian politics, with the Kyiv government having to concede constantly to the demands made by pro-Russian Donetsk and Luhansk populations. But since the Zelensky administration is resisting the fulfillment of the Minsk Accords so far (a slow and gradual capitulation is still possible, in our view), the Russians will have found a new anchor in those Ukrainians accepting dual Russian citizenship, which could reach the millions if residency requirements are loose, which they are likely to be.

It will greatly benefit the Kremlin to have hundreds of thousands, if not millions of its “citizens” scattered throughout Ukraine. That way, it will have some semblance of a pretext – in international structures and the mass media – to interfere in Ukraine, perhaps even militarily, in order to protect the language, religious or cultural rights of its “citizens.” And the presence of these dual citizens will also give the Kremlin and its allies the pretext to continue investing heavily in the mass media and promoting its policies and culture in Ukraine. As evidence the Kremlin is interested in keeping its dual citizens in Ukraine, the Russian State Duma has been considering granting citizenship without a Russian language test (many Ukrainians speak a mix of Russian and Ukrainian without being conscious of it).

What’s especially disturbing about this development is that President Zelensky proposed in his first months granting dual citizenship to Ukrainians in Russia, with the stated purpose of giving Russians an opportunity to move and settle in liberal and democratic Ukraine. Yet just as not more than several thousand Ukrainians are likely to move to Russia as a result of their newly acquired dual citizenship, just as few Russians are likely to move to Ukraine for that reason. Instead, the Zelensky administration’s dual citizenship initiative – in conjunction with the Kremlin’s initiative – will merely hasten Russia’s plans to anchor itself firmly and permanently in Ukrainian politics and society.