Виклики та загрози прихованого подвійного громадянства в сучасній Україні

Abstract

It was investigated the issue of dual citizenship, which is an important element of the policy of intergovernmental relations affecting the national and the international security. The problem of dual citizenship is relevant to modern Ukraine, because of the influence of both external and internal factors, especially in Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Officially, the Ukrai- nian legislation does not provide the possibility for Ukrainian citizens to hold a passport of another country, but the practice of latent dual citizenship is quite widespread. In Ukraine, the punishment of the concealment of the fact of obtaining foreign citizenship is a fine, but the procedure for its collection is quite complicated. The modern experience of European states in the issue of dual citizenship shows, that the most states allow dual citizenship, some states allow dual citizenship with some restrictions, and only some countries prohibit dual citizenship. The number of Central European countries have simplified the procedure for obtaining citizenship by people of ethnic origin from these countries and living abroad. The article aims are to study the characteristics of the spread of hidden dual citizenship in the modern Ukraine, challenges and threats of dual citizenship, its influence on the process of the nation development, interethnic and international relations. Comparative, systematic methods are used in the article. The empirical basis of the study includes a statistical method, analysis of documents; this allowed to complement the study of practical aspects of the implementation of dual citizenship in Ukraine. The implementation by neighboring countries with Ukraine a policy of promoting their own citizenship and encouraging the acquiring of dual citizenship leads to some tension in political relations between countries in the region, as it was noticed. In Ukraine, the question of dual citizenship is especially relevant for ethnic Hungarians and Romanians, which are compactly living in Transcarpathia and Bukovina, because Romania and Hungary offer a simplified procedure for acquiring citizenship. Also more than 350 thousand Ukrainians have Russian passports, in particular, they are residents of Donbass and southern regions. The results of sociological research indicate that today most Ukrainian citizens oppose the legalization of dual citizenship, it is connected with the annexation of the Crimea and the war in the Donbass. There are highlighted the key problems that cause dual citizenship, for example: the formation of a dual national identity, increasing interethnic contradictions in some regions of Ukraine, aggravation of intergovernmental relations, disagreement with tax law, election rights, military service etc.