Romano Them

Article 155 of the Kosovo constitution reserves citizenship to those persons legally residing in Kosovo on the date of its adoption. In addition, “all citizens of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia habitually residing in Kosovo on 1 January 1998 and their direct descendants to Republic of Kosovo citizenship regardless of their current residence and of any other citizenship they may hold.”

Individuals who left Kosovo before that date, which is the case for many Roma, will have to seek their naturalisation. The conditions for facilitated access to citizenship via naturalisation are defined in the Law on Citizenship of Kosovo which was adopted in April.