By EUDO-CITIZENSHIP expert Gerd Valchars

Following public announcements in May, the Austrian Minister of the Interior published a legislative proposal amending the Nationality Act. The proposed amendment should provide the legal basis to denationalise Austrian nationals with dual nationality fighting in armed conflicts.

The proposed amendment of the new Art. 33 (2) reads as follows: “A national who voluntarily and actively participates in an armed group in hostilities abroad, shall be deprived of nationality unless he would thereby become stateless ” (“Einem Staatsbürger, der freiwillig für eine bewaffnete Gruppe aktiv an Feindseligkeiten im Ausland im Rahmen eines bewaffneten Konfliktes teilnimmt, ist die Staatsbürgerschaft zu entziehen, wenn er dadurch nicht staatenlos wird“).

The legislative proposal is now undergoing a public expert review before it will be submitted to parliament. The proposed measures would need consent by the co-ruling Social Democrats. The amendment is part of a planned package of measures by the government against Austrians fighting in jihadist groups. Further planned measures are i.a. denying minors the right to leave the EU without the consent of their parents.