Putin Allowed Foreign Citizens to Serve If They Can’t Get Rid of Him

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing Russian citizens of other citizenship to enter state or municipal service.

“To establish that a citizen of the Russian Federation who has citizenship (allegiance) of a foreign state, which has not been terminated for reasons beyond his control, can be accepted into the state and municipal service and appointed to a position, the replacement of which does not require registration of access to state secrets (.. .) “, – noted in the decree, published on the portal of legal information.

The document says that the impossibility of terminating foreign citizenship for a citizen of the Russian Federation will be determined by the decision of the president or the decision of the Commission on Citizenship under the President of Russia.

At the same time, the decree emphasizes that “civil servants who have citizenship of a foreign state, which has not been terminated for reasons beyond their control (…), are called upon to take all possible measures aimed at terminating” such citizenship, as well as refrain from obtaining documents, certifying the identity of a citizen of a foreign state, and committing other actions by them as a citizen of a foreign state.

Before the May holidays, President Vladimir Putin signed a series of laws that prohibit state and municipal employees, military personnel, law enforcement officers, governors and regional deputies from having dual citizenship or a residence permit in a foreign state.

Amendments to the Labor Code oblige officials to notify their management within 10 days of renouncing Russian citizenship and acquiring a foreign one or obtaining a residence permit. They will be able to continue to work in their posts, provided they submit documents indicating their intention to terminate the citizenship of a foreign state. If an official has not provided such documents within six months, then he will be dismissed from the civil service.

These innovations affect the interests of many high-ranking officials. Earlier, there was a lot of “leaks” regarding passports and documents of deputies, senators and governors: it is alleged that, in particular, deputies Zhirinovsky, Lebedev, Makarov, Golushko, Blotsky and Nikonov have foreign citizenship; members of the Federation Council Nevzorov and Lisovsky (only in the lower house of parliament, according to some deputies, there are almost 40 people with passports of other countries), a number of governors and mayors of Russian cities.

Until 2020, the deputy prime minister of the government was Olga Golodets, presumably having Italian citizenship. Documents confirming the right to live in the United States and Europe are (or may easily appear) from those Russian politicians whose children have long lived abroad. The legislation of most Western countries is quite loyal to the right to family reunification, so citizens such as Dmitry Medvedev (whose son lives in the United States); Sergey Lavrov (daughter was born in the USA and lives in London); Dmitry Peskov (wife – US citizen, daughter – French citizen, son – UK), and many others fall into this “risk group” at least potentially, considers economist and sociologist Vladislav Inozemtsev.