Olesya Stamate
The case was publicized by MP Vasile Costiuc, recalling the amendments hastily adopted last year. According to them, children born abroad in families of Moldovan citizens must restore citizenship under the same conditions as foreigners. That is, a citizen who has reached the age of 18 and does not have an identity card (bulletin, ID-card or passport), but has only a birth certificate, has to re-register the citizenship of the Republic of Moldova. At the same time, he/she has to pass an exam on the knowledge of the language and history of the state.
According to data cited by the Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova (PLDM), approximately 30,000 children and young people are in a similar situation. Some have lost their citizenship due to late issuance of identity cards, although they have birth certificates issued by Moldovan authorities.
The PLDM notes that the application of regulations and administrative interpretations that change the essence of the law have put young people in a legally uncertain position and effectively rendered them stateless.
On the other hand, Moldovan legislation on citizenship clearly defines its acquisition by birth, establishing that it exists from the moment of birth and does not depend on administrative formalities or bureaucratic deadlines.
Former MP Olesia Stamate, former chair of the Law, Appointments and Immunity Commission, called the new provisions of the law “oddities.” “Article 20 provides grounds for loss of citizenship: renunciation, deprivation or on the basis of international agreements to which Moldova is a party. There is no provision in any of them “not to issue identity cards under the age of 18″. A citizen cannot lose citizenship only for late execution of documents,” she said.
Thus, a paradox arises: by law, these people retain their citizenship, but de facto they find themselves without documents and are issued a stateless person’s certificate.
The Ministry of Defense confirmed the existence of the paradox and stressed that the absence of an identity card cannot mean the loss of citizenship.
“Citizenship is a legal status regulated by law, and the Constitution prohibits arbitrary deprivation of this right,” the ministry said. Defense Minister Anatolie Nosatii acknowledged “a gap in the national system that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.”
The Our Party faction registered a bill that would recognize a birth certificate as proof of citizenship regardless of age. Persons who are 18 years of age or older when the law comes into effect and only have a birth certificate will be able to use it to prove citizenship. Pending cases and applications will be evaluated under the new rules.
“The state does not have the right to consider its citizens by birth as stateless persons just because they did not draw up documents in time,” emphasized MP Alexander Berlinski, a member of the Commission on Law, Appointments and Immunity.
And another inconsistency in the case of the new legislative norms on citizenship. They, we will remind, came into force on December 24, 2025. According to the new rules, in order to obtain citizenship, one must know the Romanian language at B2 level, know the Constitution and history of the country, and score between 75 and 100 points in the exam. Exceptions are children under 14 years of age, people with serious health limitations and those who are granted citizenship in the special interest of the state.
A week after the law was enacted, on New Year’s Eve – December 31, 2025 – a decree was signed granting citizenship to several people associated with the group Bi2. Whether they knew the language, Constitution and history of Moldova by that time or whether they fell into the category of “special interests of the state” is not known. But this raises questions: if exceptions can be made in certain cases, why are they not made for more unambiguous situations?
And even better, in order not to have to resort to such loopholes, maybe it would be better to get into the documents in advance, adopt quality laws and implement them systematically?
