The new law on Ukrainian citizenship, which came into force on January 16, 2026, is causing discontent among the Romanian community in Ukraine. It defines the conditions under which multiple citizenship can be obtained, as well as a list of countries with which Ukraine agrees to dual citizenship.
The list includes five states – Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, the United States and Canada. Ukrainian citizens can obtain citizenship of these countries without mandatory renunciation of Ukrainian citizenship. In addition, the normative act allows ethnic Ukrainians from the respective states to become Ukrainian citizens in a simplified procedure, the Romanian news and analysis website adevarul.ro has said.
Romania is not on this list, which worries Romanians in Ukraine. The Romanian community is the second largest in Ukraine after the Russian one. A Ukrainian lawyer of Romanian origin, Yevhen Patrash, believes that the decision to limit to five the list of countries for which dual citizenship is allowed is a form of underestimation of Romania by the Kiev authorities.
“We expected that all EU countries that unconditionally support Ukraine in the current conflict would be included in this list,” the Romanian edition quoted Eugen Patras as saying. – Given Romania’s unconditional support for Ukraine in the conflict, as well as the hundreds of ethnic Romanians who have died on the Russian-Ukrainian front, it would have been expected that Romania would also be included in this list.”
The following criteria were taken into account when forming the lists of “partner” countries: membership in the Group of Seven (G7); membership in the EU; application of sanctions against the Russian Federation; support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity when voting in international organizations; existence of strategic or other partnerships; level and prospects of development of bilateral relations; financial support for Ukraine; other criteria.
