Over 3,100 people lost Slovak Passport due to Citizenship Act

A total of 3,132 people have lost their Slovak passports under the State Citizenship Act adopted in 2010, reported TASR on Sunday. Slovaks most often lost their Slovak citizenship by acquiring that of the Czech Republic (727 people). Next came people who obtained the citizenship of Germany (724), Austria (475), the United Kingdom (356), USA (154) and Hungary (120). The State Citizenship Act was adopted by the first government of Robert Fico (2006-10) in response to Hungarian legislation that made it possible for ethnic Hungarians living outside Hungary to gain dual citizenship. There have been several attempts to mitigate the law since its adoption, but all have failed. As of February 2015, the Interior Ministry began returning Slovak citizenship to people who lost it after accepting foreign citizenship based on having permanent residence in the country in question. Until November 2019, 964 people applied to have their Slovak citizenship return. Of this number, 859 obtained their Slovak passport back. Slovak citizenship is restored by virtue of exemptions.