The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia tends to link the increase in the number of applications for Armenian citizenship with the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

During Friday’s press conference dedicated to the results of the first half of the year, acting Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Armenia, Armen Ghazaryan, said that the increase in the number of applications from Armenians from Russia last year reached a historical maximum: more than 32 thousand. Over the past two years, the indicator has remained at the level of more than 20 thousand, while earlier it was 7 to 8 thousand.

According to Ghazaryan, the increase in the number of applications is associated with the restrictions in force for Russian citizens.

“It turns out that [Armenian] citizenship is being used as a tool to get the opportunity to travel,” Ghazaryan noted.

He reminded that the law does not set any requirements for Armenians.

“Maybe there are some administrative obstacles, but there are no demands from the [Armenian] state. In fact, there are none. In my professional opinion, this is a problem, and it needs to be resolved. The issue is the value of the institution of citizenship,” Ghazaryan emphasized, adding that a draft law amendment will be submitted in this regard.

Also, he considered it illogical that a person who has renounced citizenship can immediately apply to receive it again.

As for the renunciation of Armenian citizenship, Ghazaryan is inclined to associate most of these cases with the citizenship of minors, obviously referring to mandatory military service for men.

Under the current law, a minor can terminate Armenian citizenship if one of the parents has terminated it.

This matter also needs to be resolved, Ghazaryan added.