MOSCOW, March 17. /ITAR-TASS/. Crimean residents should not face any additional requirements and financial expenditure when obtaining Russian citizenship, Deputy Speaker of the State Duma (lower house of Russia's parliament) Sergei Zheleznyak told reporters on Monday. The bill, simplifying the admission of a new entity to the Russian Federation, was submitted to the Duma by members of the A Just Russia faction.
Referring to the bills on a simplified procedure for getting Russia's citizenship, the deputy speaker noted that “all the factions will support the priority consideration of these bills.” “We will certainly support the idea that the procedure of getting Russian citizenship by Crimean residents should not entail an additional burden for them,” Zheleznyak said.
“They [Crimean residents] should get it [Russian citizenship] without any additional requirements or financial expenditure,” he stressed. According to him, the faction had not determined its position on the bills so far. “We are awaiting the end of the dispatch in order to decide not on the basis of that or other authorship, but based on the degree of their development in the legal sense,” Zheleznyak said.
The State Duma currently considers four bills that simplify the procedure of obtaining Russian citizenship. The documents, proposed by the LDPR (Liberal Democratic Party of Russsia) and A Just Russia factions simplify the procedure of getting citizenship only for Ukrainian citizens. The bills of the Russian government and the CPRF (Communist) faction apply to all Russian- speaking compatriots.
Speaking of the bills’ consideration time, the lawmaker noted that “everything will depend on the decision of the Duma Council.” But “we are ready to act with maximum promptness.”
As for the bill that simplifies the procedure of accession of a new entity to the Russian Federation, in the view of Zheleznyak, Crimea may join Russia under the current legislation in effect. “I hold to the position that if our colleagues propose some interesting, reasonable and feasible ideas for the optimization of the legislation, we will certainly consider them, but current Russian legislation and Constitution pose no obstacles to including a new entity without any legislative changes,” he said.
The State Duma is expected to consider on March 21 the bills, simplifying the procedure of getting Russian citizenship, as well as the document, simplifying the admission of new entities to the Russian Federation.