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Negotiations with Montenegro on dual citizenship to continue today
Belgrade,
8 October 2008
Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Ivica Dacic said today that an agreement with Montenegro on dual citizenship will be reached and announced that the action against various forms of financial and ordinary crime will be continued.
In a statement to the Radio Television of Serbia, Dacic said that talks at the level of working groups will be continued, during which modalities of dual citizenship will be discussed.
According to him, an agreement will certainly be reached but it remains to be seen whether it will be satisfactory regarding the Serbian citizenship law.
He pointed out that Montenegro has a restrictive law on dual citizenship which does not allow Montenegrin citizens to become citizens of another country without losing right to Montenegrin citizenship, which means that they will be deleted from the Montenegrin citizenship register if they acquire foreign citizenship.
Serbia’s law is liberal and it allows Serbian citizens to acquire foreign citizenship without giving up Serbian nationality, and it also allows citizens of other countries, such as Montenegro, to have Serbian citizenship without giving up the citizenship of their country of residence, explained Dacic.
Serbia is advocating this liberal approach for the simple reason that a third of the Serbian people live outside Serbia in the territory of the former Yugoslavia.
In our opinion this is one of the basic human rights, and is in accordance with recommendations made by the Council of Europe, he said, adding that he understands Montenegro’s apprehensions, bearing in mind the fact that the people of the two countries have historical and family links this could disturb their population statistics.
The Interior Minister said that he is convinced that a large number of applications for Serbian citizenship will also be submitted by citizens of other republics and countries.
He stressed that the Interior Ministry daily carries out specific actions, and these days the emphasis is on the fight against drugs.
Dacic said that Serbia is a point of transit through which at times a lot of drug, arms and human trafficking takes place, which must be stopped.
According to him, an agreement will certainly be reached but it remains to be seen whether it will be satisfactory regarding the Serbian citizenship law.
He pointed out that Montenegro has a restrictive law on dual citizenship which does not allow Montenegrin citizens to become citizens of another country without losing right to Montenegrin citizenship, which means that they will be deleted from the Montenegrin citizenship register if they acquire foreign citizenship.
Serbia’s law is liberal and it allows Serbian citizens to acquire foreign citizenship without giving up Serbian nationality, and it also allows citizens of other countries, such as Montenegro, to have Serbian citizenship without giving up the citizenship of their country of residence, explained Dacic.
Serbia is advocating this liberal approach for the simple reason that a third of the Serbian people live outside Serbia in the territory of the former Yugoslavia.
In our opinion this is one of the basic human rights, and is in accordance with recommendations made by the Council of Europe, he said, adding that he understands Montenegro’s apprehensions, bearing in mind the fact that the people of the two countries have historical and family links this could disturb their population statistics.
The Interior Minister said that he is convinced that a large number of applications for Serbian citizenship will also be submitted by citizens of other republics and countries.
He stressed that the Interior Ministry daily carries out specific actions, and these days the emphasis is on the fight against drugs.
Dacic said that Serbia is a point of transit through which at times a lot of drug, arms and human trafficking takes place, which must be stopped.
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