Slovenia orders review of 93 Russian citizenships

The Slovenian government has ordered intelligence agencies and police to assess whether there are grounds to revoke the citizenship of Russian nationals who obtained Slovenian citizenship through exceptional naturalisation since 2015.

While the government said the decision was prompted by Russia's prolonged aggression against Ukraine and the sanctions and other restrictive measures imposed in response to the war, the measure will also affect a close Russian friend of President Nataša Pirc Musar.

According to the government, 93 Russian nationals have acquired Slovenian citizenship through exceptional naturalisation since 2015, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

Such naturalisation allows individuals to acquire Slovenian citizenship under less stringent conditions if their admission is of national, scientific, economic, cultural, or social interest to the state.

Review results expected by end of month

The Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency (SOVA), the Ministry of Defence's Intelligence and Security Service (OVS) and the police have been instructed to check whether any of the Russian nationals meet the legal criteria for citizenship revocation. They must report to the Interior Ministry by 30 September.

Slovenia's Citizenship Act allows citizenship to be revoked from a citizen who lives permanently abroad and also holds foreign citizenship if that person's activities are deemed harmful to Slovenia's international or other interests.

The law lists several circumstances that may constitute such grounds. These include membership in an organisation seeking to undermine Slovenia's constitutional order; acting as a member of a foreign intelligence service in a way that harms Slovenia's interests; carrying out activities for a foreign state institution or organisation that are detrimental to Slovenia; repeatedly committing criminal offences prosecuted ex officio or offences against public order; or refusing, despite a formal request from the competent authorities, to fulfil duties imposed on Slovenian citizens by the Constitution and law.

Spying allegations surrounding president's friend

One of the 93 Russian nationals is Victoria Krivolutskaya, a friend and bowling teammate of President Pirc Musar. She obtained Slovenian citizenship through exceptional naturalisation in 2016.

Krivolutskaya told the magazine Mladina in a recent interview that she had obtained Slovenian citizenship because the Slovenian Bowling Federation needed a female athlete to compete in international events. She subsequently helped Slovenia win five medals at the Mediterranean Bowling Championships and represented the country twice at the European championships.

Krivolutskaya came under public scrutiny after she and Pirc Musar were involved in a road accident in July. Questions have been raised about potential security risks surrounding their friendship, including because Krivolutskaya had previously been in a relationship with a former Slovenian intelligence officer who had spent a number of years as a businessman in Russia after being implicated in several scandals in Slovenia.

Krivolutskaya has denied on several occasions the suggestions that she has worked for intelligence services herself.

SOVA has said that its security assessment of Krivolutskaya during the 2016 citizenship process found no irregularities. The agency said in August that it had not since received information about additional relevant circumstances that could affect those findings.

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