Dual Citizenship with Russia Irrelevant — So Far

The question of dual citizenship with Russia and granting Russian the status of second official language is not relevant for the time being, said Justice Minister Oleksandr Lavrynovych in a November 4 interview. As he put it, both questions run counter to the Constitution of Ukraine, and to date no one has initiated constitutional amendments to change this. “So far the question of dual citizenship in Ukraine is irrelevant, since our Constitution provides for single citizenship. When those who have the right to initiate amendments to the Constitution [150 lawmakers and the president] begin to do so, then this will be a relevant issue,” Lavrynovych said, according to a report carried by Interfax-Ukraine. According to the minister, the same goes for Russian as a second official language. “The Constitution stipulates that Ukraine has only one official language-Ukrainian,” he said. When asked whether appropriate Constitutional amendments would be passed, Lavrynovych said, “I’m not a weather service and I don’t make forecasts.” “I think that every person should know many languages. The more languages you know, the more opportunities for success in life you have,” Lavrynovych said, expressing his personal opinion on the language issue.