Belarus updated November 2012 - EUDO Citizenship

5 ConclusionThe break-up of the Soviet Union and Belarusian independence, alongside nation buildingand state building dilemmas, brought to the fore the issue of citizenship, the significance ofwhich was generally weakened during the Soviet era. The institution of citizenship in presentday Belarus has undergone significant changes over the years. Unlike other post-Soviet states,Belarus has adopted a nearly all-inclusive approach to citizenship which might have beenpolitically motivated and enabled Belarusian authorities to placate the population and avoidany serious political tensions characteristic of other ex-Soviet republics. While not withoutflaws, the two citizenship laws adopted in 1991 and 2002 seemed to have fulfilled theirprimary objectives. In 1991, the law adopted the ‘zero option’ and granted citizenship to allpermanent residents of Belarus. The 2002 law addressed and partly resolved what had beenleft unattended by the legislator in 1991, namely the problem of citizens of Belarus residingabroad and, connected with that, the issue of multiple citizenship. The analysis has alsorevealed that despite the theoretically democratic nature of the institution of citizenship,citizenship issues prove to be politically motivated both domestically and internationally andthe implementation of citizenship laws is still dependent on the will of those in power.Notwithstanding that and notwithstanding a ‘uniquely’ isolated position of Belarus in theEuropean arena, the overview of citizenship regulations has also shown that they generallycomply with the international and European standards. This may pave the way for Belarus’seventual ratification of the European Convention on Nationality.