Reuters: Numerous Cases When Russians Applying For Moldova Citizenship

• 16.01.2024, 12:30

Details.

Natives of Russia have recently become more active in applying for Moldova citizenship. The trend is associated with a full-scale war of the Russian Federation against neighbouring Ukraine.

This was reported on January 15 by the authorities of Chisinau, noting that it is difficult for them to cope with the significant increase in the number of applications. For this reason, they decided to increase the terms of consideration of applications, which previously amounted to 20 days, Reuters reports.

Given the sharp increase in requests for Moldovan citizenship, the relevant agency appealed to the government with a request to extend the period for consideration of applications to six months.

"The geopolitical situation in the region, created by Russia's war against Ukraine, has led to an increase in the number of persons wishing to obtain Moldovan citizenship," the report reads.

According to the department, 70% of the applicants were citizens of Russia, and 20% were citizens of Ukraine. At the same time, they did not name specific figures on the number of people wishing to obtain Moldova citizenship, which is one of the poorest countries in Europe.

Reuters recalls that the pro-European government of the country condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine, during which the debris of Russian missiles against Ukraine often fell on its territory.

Before gaining independence, Moldova was part of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and later part of Romania for about 150 years.

The population of the country in Soviet times, which was 4.3 million people, had decreased to about 2.5 million by that time, not counting the unrecognized Transnistria, which is ruled by pro-Russian separatists.