On the 37th year of the restored Republic of Latvia, the issue of citizenship for its residents has once again become an instrument of political pressure. At least, such legislative activity has not been observed for a couple of decades. And in the early 2000s, mass naturalization into Latvian citizenship coexisted peacefully with the acceptance of Russian passports. And everything was fine.
Time to Decide
"We are talking about the loss of citizenship, as we would not like to use loud words – about the deprivation of citizenship," said Deputy Gunars Kutris (Union of Greens and Farmers), opening the relevant committee on this topic.
– As you know, recently the issue of the situation with Latvian citizens who historically have, legally, citizenship of another state has become relevant, – stated G. Kutris, a former chairman of the Constitutional Court.
The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, in his opinion, "understands the situation".
– In these cases, Latvian citizenship is not taken away immediately. But from the perspective of the rule of law and legal stability, the unresolved legal situation is very strange.
As for the law, it allows dual citizenship of Latvia and Russia until the age of 25. After that, one must choose.
"From 18 to 25 years is a long enough period to sort this out...", believes the chairman of the Saeima Commission on Citizenship, Migration, and Social Cohesion.
However, there are states whose citizens cannot refuse their country’s passport at all – for example, Syria (from where the number of emigrants to Latvia is increasing!).
"There Are Recommendations to Go to Neighboring States"
Moreover, it was noted in the Saeima, "due to the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine, Latvian citizens would willingly like to free themselves from Russian citizenship, but, as with Belarus, this is quite a lengthy process." First of all, one needs to get in line at the Russian embassy and wait a long time. "There are recommendations to go to neighboring states – but people have also returned from there, being told: go to Latvia and resolve it there." There is also an option to authorize a legal representative in Russia or go there oneself.
– We know how risky this is, – pointed out G. Kutris regarding military registration. He added that "by law we need to take away citizenship from a Latvian citizen, as he has not freed himself from the citizenship of another state." And the latter – "may be, this process is being deliberately prolonged, or due to the bureaucratic machine."
All this, in general, gives grounds, from the side of our state, to "turn against" that very citizen of Latvia who would like to be loyal!
UDCMA Authorized to State
As reported by representatives of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (UDCMA) at a meeting in the Saeima, 4,231 people in Latvia currently hold, alongside Latvian citizenship, Russian citizenship as well. Of these, 3,319 are young people.
Another 562 people possess both Latvian and Belarusian passports, of which 503 are under 25 years old.
According to the official, UDCMA is "not a draconian organization and understands these issues." There are already few citizens in Latvia, and therefore, in the opinion of the agency, it is necessary to adopt amendments to the legislation that would not trigger an automatic process of renouncing Latvian citizenship if there is evidence that a dual citizen has begun to renounce the citizenship of another state.
Latvian authorities are most concerned about the increase in "statelessness," which is countered by international legislation ratified by Latvia (this, however, does not apply to the category of non-citizens, which are declared a special institution!).
Meanwhile, as reported by UDCMA employees, it is extremely difficult to renounce the citizenship of one’s country for those holding an Armenian passport, especially men (likely due to military service).
"We would like the situation to be resolved as soon as possible, so that there are no states around us that pose a threat to us," representatives of the Office expressed.
How to Identify the Disloyal
Deputy Andrei Yudin ("New Unity") noted that "uncertainty remains". – We need to consider the possibility of amending the Citizenship Law.
In the parliamentarian's vision, Latvian citizenship should be revoked in cases where the second citizenship is activated in one way or another by the person. For example, if they request a new passport. But why would the Russian embassy provide this information to the authorities of a "hostile state"?
