Estonian Foreign Ministry suggests dual citizenship for citizens by birth
TALLINN. Jan 17 (Interfax) - The Estonian Foreign Ministry proposed at a government meeting on Thursday to grant dual citizenship to citizens by birth.
"The reality is such that the majority of Estonian citizens residing abroad have dual citizenship," Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said on Thursday.
He noted that the situation disagreed with the law, which implied only one citizenship. "I see no reason why Estonia should keep its citizens residing abroad under constant stress and tell them to abandon one of their citizenships," he said.
It is possible to grant dual citizenship only to Estonian citizens by birth and their descendants, the minister stressed. He noted that he implied primarily the Estonians who left the country during World War II and resettled in the United States, Canada, Sweden, Australia and other countries.
The rule would not apply to individuals naturalized by Estonia because that was done on the condition of their abandonment of the other naturalization, Paet said.
More than 20% of the entire population (currently 1.3 million people) was naturalized by Estonia after it became independent. Most of these people are Russian-speaking citizens of the former Soviet Union. About 7% of the people living in Estonia are stateless persons and about 7% are citizens of Russia.