Citizenship Act (Slovakia)

Citizenship Act
Enacted by	National Council
Date enacted	19 January 1993
Date signed	n/a

The Citizenship Act is a law enacted by the National Council of Slovakia in regard to the nationality law following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. In 2010, it was controversially amended to disallow former citizens from voting, which was said to have affected the 2012 election to some degree.

Prior to 1993, the Slovak Republic was a part of the now defunct state of Czechoslovakia. At the time, Slovak citizenship was an internal distinction within Czechoslovakia.

On 19 January 1993, after the Slovak Republic had become a separate state, the National Council of the Slovak Republic enacted a nationality law to establish "the conditions of gain and loss of citizenship" in the newly formed republic. The law came into effect the day after its publication on 16 February. Citizenship applications would be issued by the Ministry of Interior after application with a district office. A citizen of Czechoslovakia as of 31 December 1992, who was not already a citizen of the Slovak Republic, had one year to apply for Slovak citizenship. Citizenship was also open to those who had lost Czechoslovak citizenship as a result of territorial dissolution after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Under the 1993 law, a citizen could lose Slovak citizenship only at his or her own request, after having acquired citizenship in another country. However, release of citizenship would not be allowed for people who owed taxes or who are under criminal sentence in Slovakia.

Neighbouring Hungary passed a resolution on 26 May 2010, amending its own nationality law to allow any ethnic Hungarian living abroad (who was able to speak the Hungarian language, and was a Hungarian citizen before 1920 or a descendant of a pre-1920 Hungarian citizen) to seek Hungarian citizenship. The new Hungarian law, which was enacted by a majority of 344 votes in favour with three opposed and five abstentions, elicited a reaction in the surrounding region. The strongest reaction was from Slovakia. Prime Minister Robert Fico said Hungary's action was a "security threat," because Slovakia hosts a 500,000-strong Hungarian minority community within its borders that could possibly become citizens of Hungary. That same day, Slovakia passed a motion to amend the Citizenship Act to limit dual citizenship by barring Slovak citizenship for anyone applying to another country for citizenship. The amendment did not, however, bar dual citizenship for those who acquired it at birth or by marriage.

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