by EUDO CITIZENSHIP expert Dagmar Kuša
In a reaction to the change of the Hungarian citizenship law on 26 May, the Slovak Citizenship Act has been modified on the same day. The amendment provides that if a Slovak citizen acquires the citizenship of another state “by an act of will”, that is neither by marriage nor by birth, the person will automatically lose Slovak citizenship.
The Slovak amendment was adopted merely 17 days before general elections was supported by 90 MPs – from the ruling parties SMER, HzDS and SNS. The Christian Democrats joined from the opposition. The debate was heated and no doubt fuelled by the upcoming elections. SNS leader Ján Slota stated that any Hungarian citizens acting as enemies can be dealt with by deportation and HzDS frontman Vladimír Mečiar talked about the threat of the “third war in Central Europe” posed by the policies of FIDESZ, the party in government in Hungary. The opposition criticised the amendment as a mere reacation to the Hungarian act on citizenship and pointed out that many young people who applied for citizenship elsewhere will lose employment opportunities due to the changes. Some legal experts claim the new law is unconstitutional, as the Slovak Constitution states that the Slovak citizenship cannot be taken away against person’s will, while others claim the Constitutional provision is identical to that in the Czech Republic, which has a similar restriction on dual citizenship as the law just passed in the Slovak Parliament.
Source: “Orbán zvolal náš parlament” [Orban called the meeting of our parliament], SME, 27.5.2010
Reactions in Slovakia
By EUDO CITIZENSHIP expert Dagmar Kuša
The ruling party of the Slovak coalition government SMER-Sociálna demokracia (SMER) reacted immediately and fervently to the news of the election of a FIDESZ government in Hungary and to one of FIDESZ’s stated goals of instituting dual citizenship for ethnic Hungarians living abroad.
The Slovak government declared that they are ready to take the same measures as their Hungarian counterparts took when the Slovak language law was passed (in 2009) and that is to complain to OSCE and other European institutions.
Prime Minister Fico, who has called an operative meeting of the Government on 14 May, is pushing for preventive measures before the bill on dual citizenship is discussed in the Hungarian Parliament. These could include a prohibition of dual citizenship in Slovakia and introducing the possibility of loss of Slovak citizenship upon acquisition of citizenship of another state. The Slovak National Party even called for an emergency session of the Slovak Parliament (which did not materialise).
In Slovakia, these changes would require a change in the constitution and a number of laws related to citizenship.
Links:
“Fico by odobral občianstvo tým, čo prijmú maďarské” [online], SITA. May 16, 2010. Accessed on May 21, 2010
“Dual citizenship angers Fico”, The Slovak Spectator. May 17 2010. Accessed on May 21, 2010