Government nods to state citizenship bill

Prague, Oct 3 (CTK) - The government Wednesday approved a bill on state citizenship, drafted by the Interior Ministry, which modifies conditions for granting Czech citizenship.

The NGOs working with immigrants have criticised the bill saying it is too strict towards foreigners.

On the other hand, they admit that it will adapt Czech rules to modern standards.

They recommend that the government delete some formulations from the bill. It is not sure whether it has done so.

The government has not made any changes to the bill, according to CTK information.

Deputies and senators can yet slightly change the bill.

The bill modifies the principles of and conditions for acquiring and losing Czech citizenship and the rules of finding out, proving and verifying citizenship as well as keeping records on the respective decisions.

According to its authors, the legislation will facilitate the procedure in the case of the persons who will "prove that the granting of state citizenship to them will be a significant contribution to the Czech Republic in terms of science, education, culture, sport or in any other state interest."

The bill also takes the country's security and protection of its interests into account.

The daily Pravo writes that the wording might also apply to the foreigners who helped the Czech military in foreign operations.

Its critics are opposed to the provision that some children from mixed families gain citizenship only after a DNA test proving their father's identity. They also disagree that under the bill the cases, in which the Interior Ministry rejects the application for citizenship on the basis of the police or intelligence services' stance cannot be re-assessed by court.

NGOs point out that ministerial clerks would thereby get an immense power.

The Interior Ministry originally submitted two variants of the bill in the spring.

The first would enable to preserve the original citizenship along with Czech citizenship, while under the other variant the applicant would lose the previous citizenship to become a Czech citizen.

Since the other variant was not sufficiently supported by the government legal experts, the authors at the end submitted only one version of the bill enabling dual citizenship.