The deputies dealt with the citizens

The State Duma on Tuesday approved in the second and third readings a new version of the law “On Citizenship of the Russian Federation”, submitted to the Duma by the President at the end of 2021. United Russia Konstantin Zatulin criticized the final document, as it, in fact, divides citizens into two categories with different rights, which is contrary to the Constitution: some who received it by birth cannot be deprived of citizenship, while others who acquired it due to other circumstances, Can. Also, Mr. Zatulin proposed to write down the concept of “compatriots abroad” in the document. However, the party member did not receive the support of his colleagues: in their opinion, the adoption of the document in this form is required by the international situation.

The Duma approved the presidential bill “On Citizenship” in the first reading on April 5 last year. The bill expands the powers of the head of state to determine the categories of persons entitled to a simplified acquisition of Russian citizenship; reduces the requirements for admission to Russian citizenship for more than 20 categories of persons; introduces the institution of termination of citizenship of the Russian Federation instead of canceling the decision on admission to it. In addition, the list of crimes, the commission of which entails the termination of acquired citizenship, is expanding: some grave crimes against the state, as well as crimes in the field of trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, have been added to it.

For the second reading, the profile committee on CIS affairs also approved the amendments of a group of senators, replenishing this list with desertion, violation of the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation, discrediting the army, public calls for extremist activities, armed rebellion, encroachment on the life of a statesman or public figure, etc.

The second reading was supposed to take place on April 11, but the head of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Leonid Kalashnikov (KPRF), said that he had asked to postpone consideration of the document in order to work out the issue of granting citizenship to foreigners who serve in the Russian army. On April 17, the committee approved the corresponding amendment: now foreigners who have signed a contract for service in the RF Armed Forces for a period of at least one year will be able to obtain Russian citizenship in a simplified manner.

Deputy Chairman of the CIS Affairs Committee Artem Turov (United Russia) reported to the deputies that the draft law “preserves the approach to citizenship as a stable legal relationship between a person and the state.” In this regard, the general conditions for acceptance into Russian citizenship are focused on people who are able to “join the system of social ties, become full members of Russian society.”

Mr. Turov noted that the bill “actually forms the institution of repatriation.”

He recalled the reduction of requirements for citizenship for compatriots, former citizens of the USSR and their descendants.

The first deputy chairman of the Committee on CIS Affairs, Konstantin Zatulin (ER), found himself in opposition. According to the deputy, a number of his amendments were not taken into account for the second reading. In addition, Mr. Zatulin was categorically against the introduction of the concept of termination of citizenship in the legislation. According to him, in 2017, the laws were amended to allow the decision to acquire citizenship to be canceled if a person knowingly provided false information about himself. “But in this case, we are talking about expanding the possibility of terminating the citizenship of the Russian Federation, which actually contradicts the norms of the Constitution. We divide citizens into two parts – those who received citizenship by birth and they can never be deprived of it, even if they committed a crime, and all the rest, ”Mr. Zatulin explained.

Artem Turov explained the legislative novelties with the international situation and “growing threats to the country’s internal security.”

“If a person has committed a crime, he should be in jail. And here he comes out of stateless prison. For what? – Konstantin Zatulin was perplexed. – Until 2017, unlike the Soviet Union, we did not deprive our citizenship at all and we were proud of it.

However, the deputies abandoned this reason for pride and voted for amendments to terminate citizenship for serious crimes.

Then Konstantin Zatulin suggested that his amendments, recommended by the committee for rejection, be put to a separate vote. He insisted that the concept of “compatriots abroad” should be written into the legislation: “We swear to our compatriots, we promise them support, about which we even made an amendment to the Constitution, but this concept is not in the basic law.” Mr. Turov replied that the draft law is “sufficiently focused on compatriots in terms of simplified acquisition of citizenship.” The Duma rejected the amendment. The deputies did not agree with the proposal of Mr. Zatulin to leave in the new version of the law the right to obtain Russian citizenship under a simplified procedure for citizens of Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Moldova. According to the new bill, decisions regarding these citizens can be formalized by presidential decrees. A similar proposal was made by Mr. Zatulin in relation to the inhabitants of Transnistria, where the Russian language is recognized as the state language, but it was not approved by the chamber either.

Olga Alimova (KPRF) unexpectedly raised the topic of gender identity. She did not like the provision that when changing sex, the passport can be considered invalid.

“It seems to me that, in principle, gender cannot be changed. It is possible to carry out some surgical operations to change the appearance. The presence of a breast or its absence does not mean that it is male or female,” Ms. Alimova said. Artem Turov preferred to get away from the topic, succinctly answering that the amendment “prevents a citizen from exercising his rights and obligations.” The House supported him.

Nina Ostanina (KPRF) submitted an amendment to a separate vote to prevent foreign guardians from terminating a child’s citizenship. She recalled the natural population decline. “We want those children who, by chance, ended up outside our country to return to us?” the communist asked. Artem Turov replied that persons whose Russian citizenship was terminated at the initiative of their parents, including adoptive parents, would be able to obtain it upon reaching the age of 18 in a simplified manner.

The Duma adopted the bill in the second reading, after which, at the suggestion of the committee, the speaker of the chamber, Vyacheslav Volodin, put it to a vote in the third. 408 deputies voted for, only Konstantin Zatulin abstained.

Ksenia Veretennikova