BRATISLAVA, November 24, (WEBNOVINY) — The Slovak Parliament will discuss the draft amendment to the Citizenship Act at its February session. Originally it was supposed to discuss the draft in December. Martin Poliacik from the ruling coalition party SaS reasoned the postponement by the intention to wait for the draft amendment to the Law on State Service, which is linked to changes in legislation on citizenship.
The draft amendment to the Citizenship Act, submitted to the Parliament by MPs for three ruling coalition parties, SDKU-DS, SaS and MOST-HID – Gabor Gal, Szilard Somogyi, and Pavol Kubovic. The amendment aims to remove from the law financial sanctions and loss of citizenship of the Slovak Republic in cases when a person acquires citizenship of another country. According to the now valid Law on Citizenship of the Slovak Republic, prepared by the Robert Fico Cabinet, a Slovak citizen automatically loses Slovak citizenship on the day, when, based on an explicit expression of will, he or she voluntarily acquires foreign citizenship. He or she is required to report a loss of citizenship immediately to the district office according to his or her place of permanent residence in Slovakia, otherwise the citizen would face a fine of 3,319 euro. People acquiring foreign citizenship by marriage or birth have an exception. The current law is in force since July 17.
The proposed amendment should eliminate negative impacts of the recent law on the citizens of Slovakia. Loss of citizenship should only be possible on the basis of release from the state bond on the person’s request. At the same time, the amendment eliminates all paragraphs on the loss of citizenship and exemption from that rule, introduced by the previous government, it exempts from paying related administrative fees citizens who lost their citizenship, foreigners over 65 years, disabled pensioners and severely disabled individuals.
SITA