February 25, 2014

01:31 Russian Federation is to Simplify the Rules for Obtaining Russian Citizenship for People in Crimea

Russian MPs arrived in Crimea. They announced that the Russian Federation is considering the simplification of rules for obtaining Russian citizenship for people in Crimea, especially if Ukrainian opposition does not follow the agreements signed with President Yanukovych. They also noted that Russian Federation will quickly respond if there will be calls from Crimean people to make Crimea a part of Russian Federation. The source compares this situation to the similar one that occurred in 2000 when Russian Federation simplified citizenship procedures for citizens of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. This later was used during the armed conflict between Georgia and Russian Federation as a justification for an armed invasion of the Russian army in Georgia.