Legislative changes for drastic change of the criteria and conditions for granting Macedonian citizenship cannot be made in an urgent procedure, without a public debate and detailed analysis, MP and leader of the ruling Democratic Union Pavle Trajanov told Fokus.mk.
After 7 MPs from the opposition Alliance for Albanians and Alternativa proposed amendments to the Law on Citizenship, Trajanov reacted to this proposal by recognizing the citizenship of over 70,000 citizens, who, among other things, can prove that they have permanent residence with two witnesses.
“It is a matter of law that is regulated by international conventions, all countries have a rigid approach to recognizing the status of a citizen of a particular country, and everywhere are looking for identical conditions that must be met. Such a law should first be passed in a regular procedure, then a detailed analysis by the Government and a public debate, to assess the effects of such an operation, and most importantly – are there really 70,000 stateless citizens who before September 8, 1991, stayed in Macedonia for at least 8 years,” says Trajanov.
