This year, the government will determine whether the dual citizenship system could be switched to the so-called principle of reciprocity.
Finland removing citizenship from all Russian dual citizens would be very difficult, says University of Helsinki professor emeritus of administrative law Olli Mäenpää.
“There should be very compelling reasons. That would be problematic,” says Mäenpää.
Four presidential candidates supported such a proposal on Tuesday Ilta-Sanomie in the election exam. The candidates were asked whether Russians should also give up their dual citizenship “retroactively”. They supported it Alexander Stubb (cook), Jussi Halla-aho (ps), Sari Essayah (kd) and Harry Harkimo (movement).
The question apparently meant that even the current dual citizens of Finland and Russia would only be allowed the citizenship of another country. According to the 2022 data, a total of around 38,000 people live in Finland.
Voluntarily renouncing Russian citizenship can be difficult, complicated and slow. Finland naturally does not have the power to remove the citizenship of another country from anyone.
In practice, the change would therefore mean that the Finnish citizenship would be removed from those who do not want or are unable to give up their Russian citizenship.
Mäenpää considers the idea exceptional. Currently, a dual citizen can lose Finnish citizenship, for example, if he commits a crime of treason, treason or terrorism.
According to Mäenpää, continuing the list would not be impossible, but the grounds should be serious. What could such a reason be?
“If someone thought that all Russians were a big security risk. It must be difficult to find a factual basis for that.”
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“It requires very careful consideration.”
Dual citizenship has been possible for everyone in Finland since 2003.
According to Mäenpää, it is certainly possible that this principle would be changed for new applicants. Even in all EU countries, dual citizenships are not granted as widely as in Finland.
“It's pretty much a fundamental change. It requires very careful consideration.”
Presidential candidates Pekka Haavisto (green), Olli Rehn (center) and Mika Aaltola supported the fact that dual citizenship would not be granted to Russian citizens in the future.
Mäenpää finds it difficult to make a change concerning the citizens of only one country. According to his assessment, it should concern citizens of several countries.
Olli Mäenpää, professor of administrative law at the University of Helsinki, pictured in Senatintor in Helsinki.
Ministry of the Interior is currently investigating whether d
ual citizenships could be switched to the so-called principle of reciprocity. The report is scheduled to be completed this year.
The report was agreed upon Petteri Orpon (kok) in the government's program in the summer. The Ministry of the Interior does not provide more detailed information about the content of the report, as the work is in the initial stages.
According to Mäenpää, the principle of reciprocity could mean that Finland would allow dual citizenship only with countries that also allow dual citizenship.
“I think it's quite possible to at least consider it.”
Matters related to dual citizenship have reportedly been clarified for the last time in 2015. At that time, the Ministry of Finance's working group's report concerned dual citizenship when appointed to a government position.
However, the circumstances have changed since Russia launched a major invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Finland must take into account, in addition to their own constitution, the European convention on citizenship. According to it, for example, regulations on citizenship must not be discriminatory.
A contracting state cannot make the acquisition or retention of citizenship a condition of relinquishing the citizenship of another state, if it is not possible or cannot reasonably be required.
Could this become an obstacle in the case of Russia?
“It's probably not an absolute obstacle, but of course it has to be taken into account in the preparation. It is necessary to see what restrictions are caused by the convention.”
According to Mäenpää, for example, it should be found out how difficult it actually is to renounce Russian citizenship.
Dual citizenship was discussed, among other things, in Ilta-Sanomi's presidential election exam on Tuesday.
Part the presidential candidates are of the opinion that with dual citizens it is specifically a security threat both to Finland and to themselves.
“One [Vladimir] Putin's core messages are cold. And it is that he is ready to defend the citizens of his own country even outside its borders”, argued Stubb, for example, in Ilta-Sanomie's exam.
Halla-aho said that Russia expects loyalty from its citizens, and Essayah pointed out that Russia uses various means of pressure on its dual citizens.
Aaltola also highlighted China, whose citizens are legally obliged to assist their country's security authorities if necessary.
Haavisto again pointed out the fact that some dual citizens have wanted to give up their Russian citizenship, but it has been difficult.
Having opposed the proposal Li Andersson's (left) thinks that one should not create the image that Russian speakers themselves are a security threat to Finland.
Also Jutta Urpilainen (sd) opposed the proposal and posted on Thursday a notice on the matter. In Urpilainen's opinion, it is “impossible to think that in a rule of law we would collectively punish Finno-Russians”.
Urpilainen also pointed out that since it is currently difficult to renounce Russian citizenship, in practice, removing dual citizenship would mean removing the Finnish citizenship from the people in question.
“It would be interesting to hear how the presidential candidates intend to handle this in practice and what consequences they think it would have. It's easy to raise your hand in a TV exam,” said Urpilainen, according to the release.
Ilta-Sanomat and HS both belong to Sanoma Media Finland.
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