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Voting on accession to Russia

Federation Council committee upholds laws on accepting four new regions into Russia

The laws also enshrine crucial social and economic guarantees for the residents of the new regions and form a system to protect their rights and freedoms

MOSCOW, October 4. /TASS/. The Russian Federation Council (the upper house of parliament) Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building has upheld constitutional laws on accepting the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR, LPR), as well as the Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, into Russia and recommended the chamber pass the documents.

According to the laws, the residents of the new constituent entities are recognized as Russian citizens starting on September 30, the day the regions joined Russia, but they have a month to reject Russian citizenship. The documents specify that the residents of the new regions can acquire Russian citizenship by submitting applications and being sworn in as Russian citizens.

According to the documents, the DPR and the LPR will retain their status as republics after joining Russia and Russian will be their official language. The Kherson and Zaporozhye regions will also join Russia as constituent entities and will continue to be called "regions." The borders of the republics and regions will be the same as those that "existed on the day of their creation and accession into Russia." International accords specify that their borders with other countries will be regarded as Russia’s state borders. At the same time, under the constitutional laws, the DPR and the LPR are joining Russia under the 2014 borders enshrined in their constitutions.

The laws also enshrine crucial social and economic guarantees for the residents of the new regions and form a system to protect their rights and freedoms. The documents also define a transition period.

On October 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted draft federal constitutional laws on accepting new entities into Russia to the State Duma. The Russian Constitutional Court approved the documents on the same day. Putin and the heads of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, signed treaties on their accession to Russia at a Kremlin ceremony on September 30. The majority of their residents earlier voted to join Russia in referendums.

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Voting on accession to Russia

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