A total of 3,738 people have lost their Slovak passports under the State Citizenship Act in the more than seven years since it took effect on July 17, 2010, according to statistics published by the Slovak Interior Ministry last weekend. Most often, Slovaks lost their Slovak citizenship by acquiring that of the Czech Republic (893 people). Next came people who obtained the citizenship of Germany (858), Austria (572), the United Kingdom (396), the USA (188) and Hungary (135).
Since February 2015, when a directive issued by the Interior Ministry on returning Slovak passports by virtue of exemption came into effect, a total of 1,184 former Slovak citizens have applied for their state citizenship to be restored. A total of 1,126 applicants have already had their Slovak passports returned, confirmed the Interior Ministry's press department.
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. Slovak citizenship is restored by virtue of exemptions.
