BRATISLAVA, September 22, (WEBNOVINY) — A Slovak citizen shall not lose the Slovak citizenship if he/she acquires citizenship of the Czech Republic, the Interior Ministry suggests in the revision of the Citizenship Act, which it has already submitted for the interdepartmental review. The department justifies its proposal with “long-lasting historical, cultural, and family ties of members of the two nations and states.” As a result, the current status quo is to be preserved even if the Czech citizenship is acquired “based on an expression of free will.” It has been suggested that the norm takes effect on May 1, 2012, if approved by Parliament.
The applicable law on state citizenship, passed by the government led by SMER-SD chief Robert Fico, does not enable people to have citizenships of two countries if the second one was accepted based on an expression of will. The norm was adopted in reaction to the Hungarian act that enables the acquisition of the Hungarian citizenship even to people than do not have permanent residence and have never lived in Hungary. It is enough if they have Hungarian predecessors. In spite of objections raised by some coalition parties, Fico’s law has not been revised until now. A group of ruling coalition deputies have contested it at the Constitutional Court this week.
The Interior Ministry has prepared more changes. At present, a child born out of the wedlock can be granted Slovak citizenship if parenthood is confirmed. The ministry suggests that the child be granted the Slovak citizenship on the day when both parents provide affirmative statements regarding the parenthood determination or on the day when the court’s decision on the parenthood determination comes into force. Based on the applicable rules, a child is granted Slovak citizenship on the day of birth.
Gabor Gal of the MOST-HID deputy club has called the revision discriminatory. “It should affect everyone that will apply for citizenship of another state and lose the Slovak one,” he noted. If the ministry sees the applicable wording of the law as deficient, it should come up with a complex solution, not a partial one. He considers the tabled draft bill useless. Gal highlighted that the MOST-HID deputy caucus supports a comprehensive solution. In the most ideal case, Fico’s amendment would be revoked and the previous status quo restored.
SITA