Ukraine expands dual citizenship list to 29 countries, including Romania

Ukrainian authorities adopted a decree on Friday, May 8, amending the list of states whose citizens can hold dual citizenship, adding Romania and numerous other states. Before the amendment, the list included only five states, namely Canada, Germany, Poland, the US, and the Czech Republic, according to Agerpres.

The new list includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, Greece, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Finland, France, Croatia, Switzerland, and Sweden, aside from the original five states.

According to the new regulations, Ukrainian citizens can obtain a second citizenship without being required to renounce Ukrainian citizenship. It also allows ethnic Ukrainians from those states to become Ukrainian citizens through a simplified procedure.

The previous law regarding citizenship had caused dissatisfaction in the Romanian community, the third largest ethnic group in Ukraine, after Ukrainians and Russians.

In recent years, Ukraine has shown increased openness to its Romanian minority. Earlier this year, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree designating August 31 as Romanian Language Day in the country.

In turn, Romania has welcomed Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war and has aided the country diplomatically and militarily by sending Ukraine both Soviet-era and modern military equipment. Romania has issued more than 217,000 temporary protection permits to Ukrainian citizens since the start of the war, while a total of 4,534 Ukrainians have applied for asylum in the country, according to data released by the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI) in December 2025.

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