Volodymyr Zelensky legalized dual citizenship for Ukrainians on the occasion of Unity Day

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced today that he has registered with the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) legislation to legalize holding multiple nationalities for his country’s citizens, so that Ukrainians living in the diaspora can fully legally obtain Ukrainian passports.

Zelensky announced the law – which must be approved by parliament, where his party has an absolute majority – on the occasion of Ukraine’s January 22 Unity Day, which celebrates the union of the two state entities in 1919. which was then divided into present-day Ukraine.

With the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, “we demonstrated that Ukraine’s unity and independence were real, not just declarations.”

“On February 24, the Ukrainians shook hands again. They chose not the chains of slavery, but the chains of unity“, the President emphasized during a speech in which he reminded both those who are still inside the country and those who are abroad, to support the cause of “liberating every corner occupied” by Russians, in some cases without passports.

“I have today registered a major law in Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada that will allow significant changes to the law and the introduction of multiple citizenships.” The Ukrainian head of state said in a speech to the nation on the occasion of the anniversary.

Zelenskiy explained that the law would make it possible for Ukrainians in the diaspora and their descendants to obtain Ukrainian nationality.

“All those people who, in various waves of migration, were forced to leave their homelands and come to Europe, the United States, Canada, Asian and Latin,” the Ukrainian president said about those for whom it was approved. had ended in American countries.” This measure.

Zelensky also mentioned “Foreign volunteers who have come to defend Ukraine”. “For all those who feel at home being in Ukraine,” he added A law that would allow these people to be “citizens and not tourists” and have the “right to be Ukrainians”..

In its current form, the Ukrainian constitution states that citizens can have only one nationality, although many Ukrainians hold two or more passports.

The vagueness of the formula has created some controversies and in some cases has opened the door to the discretionary application of the rule, leading to calls for clarification of the law.

Zelensky also took advantage of this symbolic day to issue a decree regarding “territories of the Russian Federation historically inhabited by Ukrainians” to “restore the truth about the historical past” and recall issues of ethnic nature related to the neighboring country. .

(with information from EFE and EP)