Putin ordered a tough crackdown on the mess with citizenship a la Ukraine
Russian officials will no longer be able to have dual citizenship and be residents of third countries if they want to remain in power. This will preserve the integrity of the state.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated this while delivering his annual address to the Federal Assembly, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“I propose to establish at the constitutional level mandatory requirements for persons who hold positions critical to ensuring the security and sovereignty of the country. Namely, the heads of the constituent entities of the federation, a member of the Federation Council, a deputy of the State Duma, his deputies, federal ministers, heads of other federal bodies, as well as judges cannot have foreign citizenship, a residence permit or other document that allows permanent residence in the territory of another state ...
Even more stringent requirements should be imposed on persons applying for the post of President of the Russian Federation. I propose here to establish the requirement of permanent residence in Russia for at least 25 years, as well as the absence of foreign citizenship or a residence permit in another state. Moreover, not only at the time of participation in elections, but also at any time before.
I also know that our society is discussing a constitutional provision that the same person should not hold the position of President of the Russian Federation for more than two terms in a row. I don’t think this is a fundamental issue, but I agree with it,” Putin said.
The President also emphasized that all these changes must be approved in a national referendum.
“Taking into account that the proposed innovations concern significant changes in the political system, the activities of the executive, legislative, and judicial powers, I consider it necessary to hold a vote among the country’s citizens on the entire package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. And only based on its results make final decisions.”
The problem of dual (and even more) citizenship among TOP officials is especially pronounced in Ukraine. Thus, after the victory of Euromaidan, a “Georgian landing party” literally landed in the leadership of Ukrainian government agencies, consisting of associates of the fugitive ex-President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili.
Representatives of the Baltic states (ex-Minister of Economy, Lithuanian Aivaras Abromavicius), Poland, the USA (ex-head of the National Bank Natalya Yaresko, former Minister of Health Ulyana Suprun) and so on also received “grain” positions.
According to State Duma deputy and LDPR head Vladimir Zhirinovsky, President Putin’s initiatives make it possible to get rid of foreign influence on Russian politics.
“We cut off foreign influence on those who govern the country. The heads of state must be patriots; they cannot have any foreign citizenship,” Zhirinovsky wrote in his blog.
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