The Interior Ministry plans to submit an amendment to the State Citizenship Act as early as in January, said Interior Minister Roman Mikulec. The ministry has taken flak over the wording of the draft from representatives of ethnic-Hungarian non-parliamentary parties but also several coalition lawmakers, however, who do not like the fact that the amendment does not aim to restore the pre-2010 legal state of affairs. Since 2010, Slovaks who obtain a foreign citizenship automatically lose their Slovak one.
The bill stipulates that Slovak citizenship could be obtained also by individuals with one Slovak parent, grandparent or great grandparent. People lose their Slovak citizenship based on a currently valid State Citizenship Act, whereby those who are granted the citizenship of a foreign country lose their Slovak passport automatically. The legislation was adopted by the first government of Prime Minister Robert Fico (2006-2010) in response to Hungarian legislation that facilitated the gaining of dual citizenship for ethnic Hungarians living outside Hungary. A total of 3,596 people have been deprived of their Slovak passports due to the legislation as of February 2015.
