Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has again said he supports the idea of granting dual citizenship to members of the Ukrainian diaspora, arguing people with Ukrainian origins abroad could contribute valuable expertise to the country more easily if they were citizens.
Speaking to a Ukrainian radio station on March 14, Klimkin called for an open debate on the issue, which concerns several million potential Ukrainian citizens.
He said he not only wanted to encourage skilled Ukrainians who have moved abroad to return home and actively contribute to the development of the country, but also help foreigners of Ukrainian descent to come and put their expertise to good use here.
“We’re losing thousands and thousands of Ukrainians who could work here,” Klimkin said.
Dual citizenship is forbidden under the Ukrainian constitution, although children who acquire a second citizenship at birth or before adulthood not of their own volition are allowed to keep it.
Klimkin also raised the issue in a long article last October published by the Ukrayinska Pravda online newspaper, in which he stressed the need for an open discussion of the issue.
Speaking in the radio interview, he said that by not offering the option of dual citizenship, people of Ukrainian descent who have foreign citizenship are put off working in government, business and the cultural sphere because of the bureaucratic hassles of obtaining work and residency permits. For working in certain government posts, citizenship is also a requirement.
However many Diaspora Ukrainians – some of whom Klimkin said he met in Canada – would like to come and put their Western experience to use for the benefit of their motherland, the minister said.
“So many good specialists could come from other countries to help us in our reform process,” he said.
“Many people understand us, (those who are) Ukrainians, through Ukrainian culture. They look at us, our culture, and thus understand who Ukrainians are, why Ukraine is a unique country, and why it is the only one capable of fighting Russia,” he said.
But they will only come if Ukraine agrees to amend its citizenship rules, which were initially intended to strengthen Ukrainian independence and mitigate Russia’s influence on the country.
