Ukraine's National Security Chief Backs Idea Of Dual Citizenship, Rules Out Russia

Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Danylyuk said that he supported the idea of granting Ukrainian nationals dual citizenship, so long as it was not with Russia

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th July, 2019) Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Danylyuk said that he supported the idea of granting Ukrainian nationals dual citizenship, so long as it was not with Russia.

Ukrainian law does not currently recognize dual citizenship.

"I believe that [the ban on dual citizenship] is a completely artificial restriction ... I think it is wrong to have only one citizenship ... There are many countries in Europe where it is not obligatory [to have only one citizenship]. But, of course, it is unacceptable to have the citizenship of an aggressor state. We must prepare for the fact that the world is global," Danylyuk said in an interview aired by 1+1 broadcaster.

His remark about the "aggressor state" was presumably in reference to Russia, which was given such a designation by Kiev in 2015.

His words echoed a recent statement by Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, who said that he was in favor of introducing dual citizenship in Ukraine but also that recognizing with dual citizenship with Russia would be impossible.

He was reacting to the executive order signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin that says residents from some districts of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine were entitled "to a fast-track procedure" when applying for Russian citizenship on humanitarian grounds.

The relationship between the neighboring countries have been deteriorating since 2014, when the conflict in Donbas broke out. The region, consisting of the Donetsk and Luhansk self-proclaimed republics, refused to accept the change of power in Kiev that ousted then-president Viktor Yanukovych. The new administration in Kiev subsequently unleashed a military campaign against the easternmost region of the country. Five years later, the situation has not changed, with local residents continuing to experience random shelling.

Ukraine has continued accusing Russia of interfering in its domestic affairs. Russia has repeatedly refuted all such allegations, insisting that it supports Kiev's efforts to overcome its political and economic crises.