Former Head of Zakarpattia Regional State Administration Hennadiy Moskal has said Ukraine should allow its citizens to have a second passport when it comes to citizenship of any of the EU countries, but not Russia.
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In his opinion, dual citizenship is "new opportunities for Ukraine," he told the Ukrainian online news outlet Obozrevatel on October 1.
"If Ukraine has chosen the path of accession to NATO and the European Union, and cannot bring us to the EU, don't stop a person from doing this by his own. The European Union does not issue passports just to anybody, as some people think," he said.
Moskal added he means "the states of the European Union, rather than Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, etc.," speaking about dual citizenship, since this vector is stipulated in the Constitution.
"We cannot allow Russian [citizenship] since today Russia is an aggressor for us. When we get a passport of a citizen of Russia, we also become aggressors," he said.
"A passport is not a threat if you are a member of the European Union. 'The European Union' is written first on the passport of any country, and the country itself is specified below. First, you are a member and a citizen of the EU. There is no need for a foreign passport as such. There is an internal ID card, similar to that we are now issuing instead of a passport. Holders of such cards may travel to 28 countries, including the UK, without any passport," Moskal said.
