Institute of Citizenship of the Russian Federation: Specifics of Formal and Genuine Political and Legal Connection
( Pp. 22-28)
More about authors
Burda Mikhail A.
Dr. Sci. (Polit.), Associate Professor; associate professor, Department of Political Science and Political Management, Faculty of Policy Studies, Institute of Social Sciences, Head, Center for Migration Research; ANO “Institute Tsargrad”
Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration
Moscow, Russian Federation
Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration
Moscow, Russian Federation
Abstract:
The increase in external migration flows to the Russian Federation and the mass entry into citizenship of immigrants from the post-Soviet states of Central Asia form a request for more stringent and measurable criteria for assessing the authenticity of the political and legal relationship between a naturalized person and the state. Of particular importance to the topic is the recent legislative novelties, which have expanded the list of grounds for terminating acquired citizenship for actions incompatible with loyalty. This translates the discussion from the theoretical plane into the practical problem of finding a balance between formal status, the sovereign right of the state to revoke citizenship and the need to protect the constitutional order from fictitious and unscrupulous naturalized persons. The object of the study thus becomes social relations arising in the process of acquiring, confirming and terminating the citizenship of the Russian Federation by persons who received it by naturalization (on a derivative basis), and the subject of the political and legal nature of acquired citizenship, disclosed through the dialectic of formal legal status and substantive requirement of true loyalty of the person to the state, as well as the concept of “stable legal connection” as a criterion for the viability of this institution. The study revealed an essential difference between the nature of defective grounds for naturalization (where cancellation acts as restitution of a null and void act) and post-naturalization torts (where the termination of a legal relationship is considered as a consequence of a deliberate break in the “credit of trust”). The need to replace the vague presumption of formal legitimacy of status with a verifiable model for assessing the “true stability of communication” based on measurable indicators of real integration is justified. The proposed transformation of the institution of sustainable legal relations allows, in the context of growing migration flows, to identify and neutralize the practice of “fictitious citizenship,” not provided with social and value unity with the state, in relation to various categories of recipients of Russian citizenship.
How to Cite:
Burda, M.A. (2026). Institute of citizenship of the Russian Federation: Specifics of formal and genuine political and legal connection. Sociopolitical Sciences, 16(3), 22–28. DOI: 10.33693/2223-0092-2026-16-3-22-28. EDN: SYDKBY
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Kotelnikov D.A. International standards of the right to nationality. Issues of Russian Justice. 2024. No. 31. Pp. 42–52. (In Rus.). EDN: MNBQFN.
Kutafin O.E. Russian citizenship. Moscow: Yurist, 2003. 587 p. ISBN: 5-7975-0624-6. EDN: QVPGZV.
Malakhov V.S. Integration of migrants: Concepts and practices. Moscow: Liberal Mission Foundation, 2015. 272 p. ISBN: 978-5-244-01174-6. EDN: VNIBMJ.
Mikhailova A.A. Constitutional and legal nature of citizenship of the Russian Federation: Sustainable legal relationship as an essential expression of citizenship. Law and Administration. 2024. No. 5. Pp. 25–30. (In Rus.). DOI: 10.24412/2224-9133-2024-5-25-30. EDN: CSMYYM.
Peshkova V.M. International migration and citizenship in the Russian Federation (The example of migration from Central Asia). Vlast (The Authority). 2023. Vol. 31. No. 6. Pp. 162–171. (In Rus.). DOI: 10.31171/vlast.v31i6.9877. EDN: ELTSOO.
Khlebunova S.A. The dual nature of the institution of termination of citizenship of the Russian Federation. Legal Order: History, Theory, Practice. 2025. No. 1 (44). Pp. 28–33. (In Rus.). DOI: 10.47475/2311-696X-2025-44-1-28-33. EDN: XACQBA.
Keywords:
citizenship, state, political and legal connection, loyalty, migration, migration policy, Russian Federation.
