The EU encourages Ukraine as every other partner to adhere to its international commitments. The EU also encourages Ukraine to pursue a wide, transparent and inclusive consultation process in the elaboration of laws.

The Council of Europe European Convention on Nationality[1], to which Ukraine is a party, stipulates that each state shall determine under its own law who are its nationals. It addresses the principles and rules that should be followed, including a list of grounds for the loss of nationality. The rules should not be discriminatory and include the principle that statelessness shall be avoided.

Article 4 of the Constitution of Ukraine states that there is single citizenship in Ukraine, and that grounds for both acquisition and termination of such citizenship are determined by law. Article 25 of the Constitution stipulates that a citizen may not be deprived of his/her citizenship, or of the right to change it.

Article 19 of the Law on citizenship states that grounds for losing Ukrainian citizenship include an adult’s voluntary acquisition of another country’s citizenship.

However, a mechanism for implementation of these provisions has not been foreseen in the law. The legislative initiative on citizenship that the Ukrainian President put to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is still under consideration at Committee level and has not yet been approved in first reading.

• [1] https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168007f2c8