Supplement to the Law on Citizenship

Ljubljana, 21 October - Today the Commission of the Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia discussed the proposal of the changes and supplements to the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Slovenia, which was submitted by the Liberal Democratic Party and an alternative proposal to this law, which was submitted by the government. The Liberal Democrats proposed a rapid procedure for issuing the changes and supplements to the law on citizenship so that the harmful consequences, which could arise if this law was not accepted, would be prevented. Namely, the present law in Article 40 demands that all applicants for citizenship must also submit various other documents with which they prove their identity, but many people have problems in reaching these documents due to reigning conditions in Yugoslavia. That is why a great number of inhabitants of Slovenia who are applying for citizenship are afraid that they will not succeed in receiving these documents by December 23. That is why the Liberal Democratic Party proposes that the procedure for acquiring citizenship be simplified, so that the it could already be issued by the commune administration without the presently demanded documents. The LDP also proposes that applicants for citizenship are liberated of paying taxes which, under present conditions, are a great financial burden to many. The commission for internal policies rejected this proposal with the explanation that the commune administration bodies are not qualified for solving all open issues which appear with the application for citizenship, that is why all applications will still be resolved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The representatives of the ministry also claim that they assist all appliers who cannot get their necessary documents from their communes in Yugoslavia because of the war.