Today the government endorsed a draft amendment to the Citizenship Act, which will now mean that people requesting dual citizenship will not lose their Slovak citizenship.
This latest development in the ongoing saga will therefore abolish the former government’s reaction to Hungary offering all ethnic Hungarians abroad the option of gaining also Hungarian citizenship.
The law was changed by Robert Fico’s government on 17 July last year and meant that Slovaks requesting the citizenship of another country would be deprived of their Slovak one. This complicated the lives of thousands of Slovaks abroad who had dual citizenship applications pending or who were planning to file these applications.
Slovakia will not acknowledge, though, the effects of citizenship granted by another country if it is in conflict to international law or generally accepted conventions regarding citizenship.
The Ministry of Interior will revise the Citizenship Act and so has called on the government to support the current draft revision.
With all the differing opinions on the issue, including the latest proposal presented by MP Igor Matovic, the question remains whether the revision will receive the necessary support in parliament.