The Embassy of Ukraine comes with explanations regarding the citizenship law, after the PSD denounced an “omission that clearly affects the Romanian community”

The Embassy of Ukraine in Bucharest states on Wednesday that the national law on citizenship adopted in June last year provides that Ukrainians can acquire the citizenship of other states, and the list of these countries, which “will be expanded in the future”, will be approved by the Government of Ukraine.

In a press release, the Ukrainian embassy draws attention to “the spread in the Romanian information space of a series of uniform articles related to the Law of Ukraine “regarding the amendment of some laws to ensure the exercise of the right to acquire and retain the citizenship of Ukraine”. In the informative materials mentioned in the press, an attempt is made to interpret the content of the Law of Ukraine”, says the diplomatic mission.

“In this context, we emphasize that the mentioned law was adopted on June 18, 2025. The document provides that citizens of Ukraine can acquire the citizenship of other states, the list of which will be approved by the Government of Ukraine. We note that the first such list was approved on November 5, 2025, by Decision of the Government of Ukraine No. 1412. The mentioned list included five states: Canada, Germany, Poland, The United States of America and the Czech Republic”.

“These are states with the most numerous Ukrainian communities in the diaspora. That list will be expanded in the future,” explains the Embassy of Ukraine in Romania.

The clarifications come after the PSD asked the Presidency and the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs “to urgently clarify with the Ukrainian authorities the reasons why Romania was omitted from the list of states for which Ukraine regulated the possibility of having a dual citizenship agreement”. PSD believes that this omission “clearly affects the Romanian community in Ukraine and strongly contrasts with the unconditional support offered by our country”.

Romanian MFA: “The law mainly targets Ukrainian communities abroad”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted on Wednesday, showing that the legislative amendment adopted in Ukraine refers to the facilitation of obtaining Ukrainian citizenship.

“During the last three years, the Ukrainian legislation on citizenship underwent several amendments, aimed at making it easier to obtain Ukrainian citizenship, without renouncing the other held citizenships, by foreign citizens who fight as volunteers in the Ukrainian armed forces or carry out humanitarian activities on the territory of Ukraine, their families, as well as to maintain and strengthen the ties with the Ukrainian state of Ukrainian communities abroad,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states in a statement.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasizes that the law, adopted in June 2025 and entered into force on January 16, 2026, does not apply to people who already have Ukrainian citizenship.

“The law mainly targets, although not exclusively, Ukrainian communities abroad. In fact, the five states in the first list approved by the Ukrainian executive are the states where the largest Ukrainian communities live abroad,” the Romanian ministry states.

PSD requested clarifications from the MFA and the Presidency

The Social Democratic Party sent on Wednesday that it “requests the institutions with attributions in foreign policy, the Presidential Administration and the Government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to urgently clarify with the Ukrainian authorities the reasons why Romania was omitted from the list of states for which Ukraine has regulated the possibility of having a dual citizenship agreement”.

“PSD believes that this omission clearly affects the Romanian community in Ukraine and strongly contrasts with the unconditional support offered by our country throughout the Russian-Ukrainian war”, reads a press release from PSD.

Moreover, the social democrats convey that the “arbitrary” approach of the Ukrainian authorities may affect the neighboring country's accession to the European Union. “​PSD requests the Romanian authorities to intervene firmly and urgently to solve this problem”.