Zelensky: Ukraine working on dual citizenship reform
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the American news outlet Newsweek in an interview that Ukraine is working on a dual citizenship reform, Ukrainski Novyny News Agency reports.
“We are happy that people are going [abroad] and gaining experience, but we also want our diaspora in the US to be able to return, and so we are working on a dual citizenship reform,” Zelensky said.
In the president’s opinion, in order to encourage Ukrainians to remain in the country or to return, Ukraine needs foreign investments and the creation of new jobs.
“One of the things that we are most proud of is Ukrainians and their intellectual level, but many of them are in other countries, including Canada, Poland and Germany. If they are leaving due to unemployment, we need investors to create jobs, so that Ukrainians will stay… Investors anywhere in the world always have two key questions: How is my money being protected, and who will do the work? We have an answer to the second question: There are many qualified people in Ukraine. But we need to give a decisive answer to the first question,” Zelensky remarked.
He pointed out that Ukraine’s current parliament has already passed around 80 laws to improve the investment climate during its first two and a half months.
The president also noted that Ukraine has a big privatization plan, and intends to destroy monopolies in the gas and distillery sectors.
Zelensky gave his assurances that, even though he came to power with a high popularity rating, he does not mind if it drops as the result of difficult but correct decisions.
Officially Ukraine currently does not allow dual citizenship.
In 2017, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban advised then Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to legalize dual citizenship for the ethnic Hungarians residing in Ukraine. In 2014, Orban also advocated dual citizenship for the Hungarians in Ukraine’s Zakarpattia region.