Granting citizenship to a person on any other criterion than one's residency is grounds for political tension between countries, OSCE High Commissioner for Minorities Knut Vollebaek said, following his meeting with Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák in The Hague on May 25.
"I warned countries about granting citizenship on ethnic, linguistic or cultural criteria, and I cautioned them about repercussions stemming from such citizenship," said Vollebaek, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Even though granting citizenship is an exclusive right of each country, this doesn't mean that a country can do whatever it pleases, he said, adding that adoption of such a thorny piece of legislation must be preceded by bilateral consultations.
"This applies to Hungary and Slovakia too, who are partners in the EU and NATO and have signed bilateral agreements," said Vollebaek.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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