Estonia Proposes Allowing Dual Citizenship for Native-Born Citizens
A bill has been submitted in Estonia's parliament that would let citizens by birth also hold citizenship of EU countries, the US and several other states. Lawmakers have raised questions about military service, loyalty and the list of countries.
A bill allowing Estonian citizens by birth to hold a second citizenship was submitted to the Riigikogu, Estonia's parliament, on Wednesday, 14 October. It was initiated by the Reform Party and Eesti 200, and handed over for processing by Reform Party MP Valdo Randpere. Estonia currently has a law banning dual citizenship, alongside a law that forbids stripping citizenship from those who hold it by birth.
Which countries are covered
Initially, citizens by birth could keep the citizenship of an EU member state, a country in the European Economic Area, or of Switzerland, the United States, Australia, Canada or New Zealand. The list could later be expanded if certain legal conditions are met. Randpere stressed that the law would not apply to Russia or to countries with which Estonia shares no common values. The authors say the change would help Estonians born abroad maintain ties with their homeland.
Randpere himself holds Swedish citizenship in addition to Estonian, and this is his third attempt to get such a law through parliament. He said the opposition now shows some interest in the initiative.
Lawmakers' objections
Evelin Poolamets of EKRE, the Conservative People's Party of Estonia, asked whether someone who has already completed conscript service in Estonia would also have to serve in Finland, and in which army's reserve that person would end up. She also pointed to the possibility of one person running for the parliaments of several countries.
Vadim Belobrovtsev of the Centre Party said the state would divide citizens into naturalised ones and those by birth. He also questioned the list of countries, which omits the United Kingdom and Israel but includes Liechtenstein and Iceland.
The bill has only been registered and has not yet passed any reading. The state has no data on how many Estonian citizens already hold another citizenship. According to the Ministry of the Interior, about a hundred people renounce Estonian citizenship each year; last year the most common destinations were Russian, Finnish and Swedish citizenship.
