UWC President pens letter to faction leaders of Ukraine’s parliament to adopt multiple citizenship law

Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Paul Grod said it’s “high time to give Ukrainians the opportunity for multiple citizenship” in a letter he wrote to faction leaders of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament. 

Registered as draft law No. 11469, the bill seeks to regulate the issue of multiple citizenship.

“For generations, Ukrainians around the world have dreamed of holding Ukrainian citizenship,” Grod said. “But today, there’s an even more urgent reason for this reform: multiple citizenship offers millions of Ukrainians forced to flee the war a way to maintain their connection to their homeland.”

In his, the UWC President emphasized that the current version of the draft law is the result of months of cooperation between members of parliament, Ukraine’s presidential office, the Ministry for National Unity, the State Migration Service, and the UWC.

Among the key provisions of the proposed reform, Grod highlighted:

• Equal rights and responsibilities for all citizens;
• The ability for displaced Ukrainians to obtain another citizenship without losing their Ukrainian one;
• A mandatory exam on the Ukrainian language, history, and Constitution for new citizens;
• Security safeguards;
• Dual citizenship eligibility based on a given country’s stance on Russian aggression.

“More than 130 countries — including the vast majority of EU member states, the U.S., Canada, and Australia — allow multiple citizenship,” Grod said. “If we want Ukrainians to succeed as a global nation in the 21st century, this is a step we must take.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy initiated the bill and after the first reading in the legislature, over 1,300 amendments were submitted. A second and final vote on the revised bill is expected during the next parliamentary session week.