Today at 18:09
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha announced that the Cabinet of Ministers has approved a decision expanding the simplified procedure for acquiring Ukrainian citizenship to include citizens of Moldova.
According to Sybiha, the decision was adopted at the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of the implementation of Ukraine’s updated Law on Citizenship, UATV English reports.
Previously, the simplified procedure allowing eligible applicants to obtain Ukrainian citizenship without renouncing their existing nationality was available to ethnic Ukrainians from EU member states, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Norway, Switzerland, and Iceland.
“With today’s decision, this legal mechanism is now also open to our neighbors — citizens of the Republic of Moldova,” Sybiha said.
The foreign minister described the move as more than a technical expansion of the program, calling it “a logical step” in relations with a country that shares both a common border with Ukraine and a common path toward European Union membership.
Sybiha noted that Moldova has supported Ukraine and Ukrainian citizens since the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion and highlighted the country’s large and active Ukrainian community.
“We are sincerely interested in ensuring that ethnic Ukrainians abroad have as many opportunities as possible to maintain ties with their homeland,” he said.
The minister also described the decision as a timely response to what he called Russia’s attempts to destabilize Moldova by manipulating citizenship issues involving residents of the breakaway Transnistria region.
“Ukraine is demonstrating leadership, sovereignty, and responsibility. Unlike Russia, which seeks to spread instability and expand the war, Ukraine’s strategic goal has always been—and will remain—peace, security, and stability for our friendly neighbor Moldova,” Sybiha said.
He thanked Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko and members of the Ukrainian government for what he called a prompt and strategically important decision.
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