On Thursday, the Saeima decided to recognize figure skater Fedor Kulish as a citizen of Latvia, allowing him to also retain his Ukrainian citizenship, reports LETA.
Kulish is a candidate for participation in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
He was born in 2005 in Kyiv and has been living in Latvia since 2022, when Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since 2023, Kulish has represented Latvia in international competitions, and he is also the Latvian figure skating champion of 2025.
Representing Latvia, Kulish placed 14th at the 2025 European Championships, 24th at the 2025 World Championships, 1st at the "Volvo Open Cup 54th 2025" tournament, 7th at the "Sonja Henie Trophy 2025", 1st at the "Daugava Open Cup 2025", 4th at the "DenkovaStaviski Cup 2024", 29th at the 2024 European Championships, 25th at the 2024 Junior World Championships, 3rd at the ISU Junior World Cup stage "Armenian Cup 2023", and 1st in the junior group at the "Volvo Open Cup 50th 2023".
Kulish's 24th place at the World Championships secured Latvia a second quota for the Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo in the men's figure skating discipline. The second quota was earned by Denis Vasiliev, who placed 11th.
Latvia is one of only five countries that have earned more than one quota in this category for the Olympics.
The Latvian Olympic Committee (LOC) supported granting Kulish citizenship, noting that he is a talented athlete who has demonstrated significant achievements and rapid progress.
"Kulish's decisive contribution at the 2025 World Championships provided Latvia with a historic opportunity to participate in the Olympics for the first time with two athletes in the men's figure skating discipline," emphasized the LOC in a letter to the Saeima, expressing confidence that he has a high potential to achieve outstanding results on the international stage, including at the Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.
In turn, the Latvian Figure Skating Association noted that Kulish is integrating into Latvian society, learning the Latvian language, becoming familiar with the culture, traditions, and way of life in Latvia, and showing respect for the Latvian state, its people, and values in training, competitions, and everyday communication.
The Saeima's Commission on Citizenship, Migration, and Public Cohesion appealed to the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA) to verify Kulish's compliance with the citizenship law requirements and received confirmation that the Latvian authorities have no information regarding the applicability of any restrictions specified in Article 11 of the Citizenship Law. At the same time, the OCMA emphasized that he currently cannot obtain citizenship through naturalization.
The Commission reviewed the submitted documents and heard Kulish's explanations about his future plans and motivation to become a citizen of Latvia. Kulish linked his future with Latvia, which he confirmed at the Commission meeting. After examining all the information received, the Commission supported recognizing Kulish as a citizen of Latvia under a special law. At the Commission meeting, Kulish took a solemn oath of allegiance to the Republic of Latvia.
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