18 June 2004 02:40
Georgia seeks dual citizenship for Georgians in Russia
TBILISI. June 18 (Interfax) - The Georgian Justice and Foreign Ministries will hold consultations on granting
Georgian citizenship to people of Georgian descent living in Russia.
"Under amendments introduced in the Georgian constitution early this year, the Georgian president now has the
right to grant foreign citizens Georgian citizenship as their second citizenship. Appropriate laws need to be drawn up
to put this political decision into effect," Justice Minister Georgy Papuashvili said on Friday.
"Foreigners have not had any problems with obtaining Georgian citizenship so far, since the president has
granted Georgian citizenship in exceptional cases," Papuashvili said.
Turkey has the largest Georgian population - about 5 million - outside Georgia.
During his recent visit to Turkey, President Mikheil Saakashvili promised to grant citizenship to all people of
Georgian descent who moved to that country several centuries ago. [GG EUROPE EEU EMRG POL] tm tl
[Interfax] |
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