The Czech Republic will no longer grant citizenship to Russians who have not renounced their passports of the aggressor state. This was reported by Seznam Zpravy with reference to the law Lex Ukrajina, which the Czech Senate submitted to President Petr Pavel for signature on January 22, UNN reports.
Details
It is noted that one of the amendments to this law introduces a ban on granting Czech citizenship to Russian citizens who have not renounced their passports of the aggressor country. The president is likely to sign it on January 29 this year.
The Lex Ukraina law extends the temporary protection of Ukrainians in the country for another year. However, one of the amendments provides for a ban on issuing citizenship to people who hold a Russian passport.
The Senate failed to pass the law, but 52 of the 73 lawmakers who did not support the document did not submit their own amendments.
This means that the law will go to President Petro Poroshenko in its approved form
The senators were not satisfied with three amendments concerning criminal liability for activities in favor of a foreign state, granting Russians Czech citizenship only if they renounce their Russian citizenship, and allowing school principals to announce a later date for enrolling Ukrainian children in the first three grades. These amendments were proposed to be removed from the law.
At the same time, the authors of the law emphasize that the complication of obtaining an EU passport for Russians is justified, since Russia has been waging war against Ukraine for three years. In addition, the Russian diaspora in the Czech Republic includes many supporters of the Kremlin and people associated with the special services of the aggressor state.
The adopted amendment to the law stipulates that all current applications for Czech citizenship from Russians aged 15 and older will be suspended until the Lex Ukraina law expires, which in the new version is indefinite. The amendment will not apply to refugees, children under 15, or those who have made a special contribution to the Czech economy or culture.
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