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The future of dual citizenship in Finland at stake
Mariana Andrei - Communication Coordinator
7 October 2014
Finland's Ministry of the Interior announced that they would explore the possibility of tightening citizenship eligibility criteria or forbidding dual citizenship, following a surge in the number of Russians who were granted Finnish citizenship over the last years.
President Sauli Niinistö expressed concerns regarding the potential issues generated by the sharp increase in the number of citizenship applications and commissioned the Ministry of the Interior to evaluate possibilities to limit their number. "I have asked for an investigation into the awarding of dual citizenship, and a comparison with other countries", said the president.
In fact the main reason of the decision to reconsider the Finnish citizenship awarding criteria is related to the new norms adopted in Kremlin, which make it compulsory for Russians holding dual citizenship to register with the immigration authorities. In addition, Russia has announced closer monitoring of its citizens' interests beyond its national borders, which raised concerns among government officials in Finland.
On Thursday Päivi Räsänen, the minister of the interior, confirmed that officials are investigating whether the government should introduce new restrictions for acquiring Finnish citizenship. "I want to map out what the situation is and what the practical implications would be if this legislation was overturned,” Räsänen said.
Source: http://ec.europa.eu/ewsi/en/news/newsdetail.cfm?ID_ITEMS=42841
President Sauli Niinistö expressed concerns regarding the potential issues generated by the sharp increase in the number of citizenship applications and commissioned the Ministry of the Interior to evaluate possibilities to limit their number. "I have asked for an investigation into the awarding of dual citizenship, and a comparison with other countries", said the president.
In fact the main reason of the decision to reconsider the Finnish citizenship awarding criteria is related to the new norms adopted in Kremlin, which make it compulsory for Russians holding dual citizenship to register with the immigration authorities. In addition, Russia has announced closer monitoring of its citizens' interests beyond its national borders, which raised concerns among government officials in Finland.
On Thursday Päivi Räsänen, the minister of the interior, confirmed that officials are investigating whether the government should introduce new restrictions for acquiring Finnish citizenship. "I want to map out what the situation is and what the practical implications would be if this legislation was overturned,” Räsänen said.
Source: http://ec.europa.eu/ewsi/en/news/newsdetail.cfm?ID_ITEMS=42841
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