Government Okays Scrapping of Treaty with Russia on Preventing Dual Citizenship

Bratislava, October 23 (TASR) - The government on Wednesday approved the termination of a treaty on the prevention of dual citizenship concluded in 1980 between the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The treaty prevents children born to a citizen of Russia and a citizen of Slovakia from adopting both citizenships, which, according to the Slovak Interior Ministry, is in violation of the Constitution. "As a result of the succession of the Slovak Republic to international treaties after the dissolution of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, the treaty is considered valid in bilateral relations between the Slovak Republic and the Russian Federation and is currently applicable only in relation to the Russian Federation. In practice, the treaty is applied only by the Slovak Republic," said the Interior Ministry. The document prevents children of mixed Slovak-Russian couples from obtaining both citizenships. The ministry, which submitted the proposal to terminate the treaty, states that such deprivation of citizenship is in violation of the European Union's Convention on Citizenship, to which Slovakia is a party. The ministry noted that the regulation also runs contrary to the Slovak Constitution, as according to it, a Slovak citizen cannot be deprived of citizenship against his or her will. "The treaty also runs contrary to Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights because no one can be arbitrarily deprived of his or her nationality or of the right to change nationality," state the documents. zel/df