A total of 2,002 people have lost their Slovak passports under the State Citizenship Act in the more than seven years since it took effect on July 17, 2010, according to statistics published by the Slovak Interior Ministry on Saturday. Most often, Slovaks lost their Slovak citizenship by acquiring that of the Czech Republic (519 people). Next came people who obtained the citizenship of Germany (474); Austria (288); the United Kingdom (193); Hungary (98); the USA (90); Norway (46), Switzerland (41); the Netherlands (38); Belgium (34); Ireland (33); Australia (31); Canada (30); Italy (24); Finland (14); France (12); Sweden (11), Luxembourg and Russia (four each); China (three); Denmark, Iceland, New Zealand, Poland and Ukraine (two each); and Israel, Spain, Serbia and Singapore (one each).
The State Citizenship Act was adopted by the first government of Robert Fico (2006-10) in response to Hungarian legislation that made it possible for ethnic Hungarians living outside Hungary to gain dual citizenship. Nevertheless, until 2005 Slovakia had identical legal provisions to facilitate for ethnic Slovaks living outside Slovakia to gain Slovak citizenship.
There have been several attempts to mitigate the law since its adoption, but all have failed. As of February 2015, the Interior Ministry began returning Slovak citizenship to people who lost it after accepting foreign citizenship based on having permanent residence in the country in question. Slovak citizenship is restored by virtue of exemptions.
(TASR, 14 Oct 2017)
Minority Report / Bulletin on the Hungarian Community in Slovakia
