Moldova wants to toughen citizenship, requiring knowledge of Romanian language and the basics of the constitution

The Moldovan parliament has approved in the first reading a bill that introduces mandatory knowledge of the Romanian language and the basic provisions of the country's constitution in order to obtain Moldovan citizenship. This is reported by the official website of the Moldovan parliament.

The new law is also aimed at combating fraud and corruption - it is planned to strengthen the verification of applicants' documents. It is known that in recent years in Moldova revealed about 100 cases of attempts to obtain citizenship with the help of forged or dubious documents.

In addition, the MPs propose to check the applicants' international trips to make sure that there are no bans on travelling to other countries, as well as to assess their financial situation, health, family history and moral qualities.

The bill also clarifies the categories of foreigners eligible for naturalisation and sets requirements for the period of legal residence in the country to obtain citizenship.

At the same time, the MOST media project, which covers the situation in unrecognised Transnistria, warns that the innovations may complicate the acquisition of citizenship for residents of the left bank of the Dniester, which is not under Chisinau's control. In particular, the law excludes the possibility of obtaining citizenship on the basis of residence in the country from 23 June 1990 until now.