Czechia Moves to Ban Citizenship Applications for Russian Nationals

Czechia passed amendments to a bill that would ban Russian nationals from obtaining Czech citizenship, Radio Liberty reported on January 22.

Despite only 21 out of 73 senators present voting in favor, the legislation will still proceed to President Petr Pavel for signature.

Under the bill, pending citizenship applications from Russian citizens would be frozen, with limited exceptions for minors and members of the opposition or civil society. The proposed law also mandates that Russian nationals renounce their Russian citizenship before applying for Czech citizenship. Even then, applications would only be considered after the end of the Russian war against Ukraine.

The legislation primarily targets Russian citizens who have already resided in Czechia for over 10 years, the minimum residency period required to apply for citizenship. Czechia already suspended visa issuance to Russian nationals since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began.

The authors of the bill justified the measures as necessary for national security. Critics, including opposition lawmakers and human rights advocates, argued that Russian applicants are already vetted by intelligence services. They also noted that targeting citizens of a single country could be considered discriminatory.

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The legislation also introduces criminal liability for “unauthorized cooperation with a foreign state.” Critics have raised concerns that this provision could be misused, enabling the authorities to arbitrarily interpret what constitutes a violation.

Interior Minister Vít Rakušan defended the amendments, stating they would only apply to individuals intentionally threatening national security. He explained that while current espionage laws cover classified information, the new crime would extend to cases involving the collection of “non-classified but important information.”

President Pavel previously expressed no objections to the proposed amendments, signaling his likely approval.

Earlier, Czechia ended its reliance on Russian oil following the expansion of the Transalpine Pipeline (TAL) from Italy.